THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SCHOOL  OF  LAW 


New  Building,  Children's  Court,  New  York  City 


JUVENILE    COURTS 
AND  PROBATION 


BY 

BERNARD  FLEXNER 

AND 

ROGER  N.  BALDWIN 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1916 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 


Published,  July,  1914 


This  volume  was  submitted  to  the  National  Probation 
Association  as  the  report  of  the  special  committee  on  juve- 
nile courts  and  their  administration.  While  the  text  has 
been  prepared  by  Bernard  Flexner  and  Roger  N.  Baldwin 
it  has  the  endorsement  and  is  the  report  of  the  special 
committee  composed  of: 

BERNARD  FLEXNER,  Attorney,  Chairman. 

ROGER  N.  BALDWIN,  former  Chief  Probation  Officer,  St. 
Louis  Juvenile  Court,  Secretary. 

BEN  B.  LINDSEY,  Judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  Denver, 
Colorado. 

JULIAN  W.  MACK,  former  Judge  of  the  Chicago  Juvenile 
Court. 

JULIA  C.  LATHROP,  Chief  of  the  Children's  Bureau,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

HOMER  FOLKS,  President  of  the  New  York  State  Probation 
Commission. 

MAUDE  E.  MINER,  Secretary  of  the  New  York  State  Pro- 
bation Association. 

EDWIN  MULREADY,  Deputy  Commissioner,  Massachusetts 
Commission  on  Probation. 

ARTHUR  W.  TOWNE,  former  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
State  Probation  Commission. 


INTRODUCTION 

This  volume  is  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the 
juvenile  court  and  its  administration.  It  is  intended  as 
a  guide  to  judges,  probation  officers,  and  interested  lay- 
men. While  the  report  is  concerned  with  the  juvenile 
court  as  it  exists  to-day,  it  may  not  be  altogether  out  of 
place  here  to  indicate  the  lines  along  which  it  is  believed 
the  court  will  develop. 

In  its  treatment  of  the  child  it  has  fully  justified  itself, 
though  it  has  almost  wholly  failed  in  its  treatment  of  the 
adult  responsible  for  the  child's  condition.  Heretofore 
the  emphasis  has  been  placed  on  the  child  in  court;  with 
a  wider  conception  of  the  law  it  will  in  the  future  be 
placed  on  the  family  in  court.  In  short,  the  court  will 
undertake  to  deal  more  effectively  with  the  family  which 
produces  the  neglected  or  delinquent  child,  who  is  merely 
a  factor  in  the  larger  and  more  complicated  problem. 

This  change  contemplates  a  legitimate  extension  of 
the  present  court's  functions.  It  will  be  vested  with  both 
equitable  and  criminal  jurisdiction  and  will  deal  with  all 
charges  against  minors,  with  neglected  children,  and  all 
cases  such  as  divorce,  adoption,  etc.,  in  which  the  custody 
of  children  is  in  question.  It  will  likewise  embrace  with- 
in its  jurisdiction  all  violations  of  law  where  children 
have  been  wronged,  such  as  child  labor  laws,  and  com- 
pulsory attendance  laws.  It  follows  as  a  matter  of 

vii 


Introduction 

course  that  it  will  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  all 
cases  of  adults  who  contribute  in  any  way  to  the  con- 
ditions of  delinquency  or  neglect  in  children. 

It  is  conceivable  that  the  widening  of  the  court's 
powers  may  hasten  the  development  of  two  other  changes ; 
namely,  the  separation  of  the  work  of  probation  from 
the  court,  leaving  it  to  be  administered  by  a  distinct 
body,  and  a  more  careful  organization  of  all  private  and 
public  preventive  agencies  for  keeping  children  out  of 
court. 

Notwithstanding  this  possible  evolution  of  the  court, 
most  of  the  material  herewith  presented  will  apply  to 
work  with  children  in  whatever  form  it  is  organized.  In 
order  that  the  book  may  be  effectively  used,  it  is  suggested 
that  in  every  community  a  committee  of  interested  citi- 
zens test  the  work  of  their  own  local  court  by  the  stand- 
ards set  forth  here. 

NEED   FOR   UNIFORM    STANDARDS 

The  rapid  and  varying  development  of  the  juvenile 
court  suggests  the  great  need  for  uniformity  in  its  meth- 
ods of  dealing  with  the  children  who  come  before  it. 
Excepting  in  a  few  states,  no  consistent  effort  has  been 
made  to  secure  uniformity  or  to  standardize  the  work. 
In  Massachusetts  and  in  New  York,  state  probation  com- 
missions have  been  established  to  supervise  the  work 
throughout  the  state. 

The  argument  is  frequently  advanced  that  varying  local 
conditions  make  standardization  of  the  work  impossible. 
The  same  argument  might  be  applied  with  equal  force 
to  the  work  of  charity  organization  societies.  Yet  the 

viii 


Introduction 

standards  for  good  work  in  these  societies  have  been 
fixed  rather  definitely.  The  difficulty  lies  in  confusing 
terms.  It  may  be  admitted  that  it  is  difficult  to  pre- 
scribe a  uniform  law  or  uniform  procedure  that  will  be 
universally  applicable;  the  essentials,  however,  even  in 
these  matters,  can  be  secured.  In  the  actual  treatment 
of  the  child,  substantial  adherence  to  a  standard  is  ob- 
tainable. The  principles  underlying  the  investigation  of 
cases,  the  handling  of  the  matter  in  court,  the  detention 
of  children,  the  general  methods  of  probation,  the  atti- 
tude toward  the  many  social  factors  involved  in  order  to 
make  for  efficient  work,  need  not  differ  essentially, 
whether  the  court  be  in  the  East  or  in  the  West,  whether 
the  court  handles  many  or  few  cases. 

The  purpose  of  this  volume  is  to  supply  to  some  extent 
this  want  and  to  give,  as  fully  as  possible,  what  is  believed 
to  be  the  best  method  of  dealing  with  the  whole  problem. 
The  suggestions  made  are  not  beyond  accomplishment  in 
any  court.  Recommendations  which  are  believed  to  be 
generally  inapplicable  are  avoided. 

With  this  in  mind,  attention  is  directed  to  what  may  be 
regarded  as  the  essential  requirements  of  a  court  organ- 
ized on  sound  principles : 

1.  The  proceedings  must  not  be  criminal,  as  under  the 
criminal  law,  but  civil,  as  found  in  the  chancery  or  equity 
practice. 

2.  The  court  must  be  presided  over  by  a  judge  with  a 
sufficiently  long  tenure  of  office  to  become  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  work. 

3.  When  children  are  detained,  it  must  not  be  in  a 
jail,  but  in  an  entirely  separate  place  of  detention.     The 

ix 


Introduction 

court  system  at  every  point  must  protect  and  educate  the 
children  with  whom  the  court  deals. 

4.  There  must  be  a  sufficient  number  of  probation  offi- 
cers, paid  out  of  the  public  treasury,  appointed  on  merit 
and  because  of  peculiar  qualifications  for  the  work.     A 
limited  number  of  volunteer  probation  officers  may  be 
utilized,  assuming  as  a  matter  of  course  that  their  work 
is  supervised  by  paid  officers  and  that  they  are  held  to  a 
strict  accountability  for  their  probationers. 

5.  The  probation  office  must  be  conducted  in  a  sys- 
tematic and  business-like  manner  so  as  to  insure  efficient 
treatment  of  each  individual  case. 

6.  Such  records  of  the  work  must  be  kept  as  will  en- 
able the  court  and  the  public  to  estimate  fairly  the  value 
of  the  court's  work  in  the  community. 

DESTITUTE   OR   DEPENDENT   CHILDREN   EXCLUDED 

In  treating  of  probation,  reference  is  had  only  to  de- 
linquent and  neglected  children.  We  are  not  unmindful 
of  the  fact  that  many  of  the  juvenile  court  laws  embrace 
dependent  or  destitute  children  as  well.  The  jurisdiction 
of  the  court  in  so  far  as  it  applies  to  the  dependent  or 
destitute  child,  unaccompanied  by  any  act  of  parental 
omission,  is  really  misplaced.  Cases  of  dependency  or 
destitution  involving  only  questions  of  relief  are  not 
properly  questions  belonging  to  the  juvenile  court,  since 
there  are  other  agencies  in  the  community  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  work  of  this  character. 

The  one  question  usually  presented  to  the  judge  in 
such  cases  is  whether  the  family  should  be  separated 
merely  because  of  poverty.  For  many  years  this  was  re- 

x 


Introduction 

garded  as  a  valid  reason  for  judicial  interference  with 
the  family  status.  It  is  a  sad  commentary  that  we  should 
still  be  wrestling  with  this  question  in  our  courts.  The 
presence  of  the  dependent  or  destitute  child  in  the  court, 
presenting  family  or  home  conditions  remediable  simply 
by  relief  measures,  is  an  injustice  to  the  court,  and  a 
worse  injustice  to  the  child  and  to  the  family. 

The  same  objection  may  be  urged  against  the  admin- 
istration by  the  juvenile  court  of  so-called  widows'  or 
mothers'  pensions.  The  juvenile  court  is  not  a  proper 
public  agency  for  giving  relief,  and  no  child  or  family 
should  be  required  to  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
court  merely  because  of  the  necessity  of  securing  re- 
lief. 

NEGLECTED   CHILDREN 

Throughout  this  volume,  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  de- 
linquent rather  than  the  neglected  child.  This  is  done 
for  several  reasons:  first,  because  the  courts  at  present 
deal  chiefly  with  delinquent  children ;  second,  because  the 
problem  of  the  delinquent  child  has  received  less  thorough 
attention  from  writers  than  the  problems  of  family  re- 
habilitation and  destitution  (which  are  the  chief  prob- 
lems of  the  neglected  home)  ;  and,  third,  because  pro- 
bation methods  cannot  be  applied  to  nearly  as  large  a 
proportion  of  cases  of  neglected  children  as  of  delin- 
quents. Insofar  as  these  methods  can  be  used,  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  treatment  of  delinquent  children  in  their 
homes  applies  in  large  degree  to  neglected  children.  A 
full  treatment  of  the  problem  of  the  neglected  child 
would  take  us  beyond  the  limits  set  by  this  volume,  into 

xi 


Introduction 

the  field  of  adult  probation,  family  desertion,  the  treat- 
ment of  drunkenness  and  the  problems  of  public  and  pri- 
vate relief  of  destitution.  We  have,  therefore,  suggested 
only  the  means,  for  cooperation  with  other  agencies  in 
this  extensive  field,  which,  as  yet,  the  juvenile  court  but 
slightly  occupies. 

The  authors  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Julius  Rosenwald,  of 
Chicago,  for  valuable  assistance  toward  the  publication 
of  this  volume;  and  to  Judge  Harvey  H.  Baker,  of  the 
Juvenile  Court  of  Boston,  Miss  Margaret  F.  Byington 
and  Miss  Mary  Richmond,  of  New  York,  Miss  Sophon- 
isba  P.  Breckinridge,  Miss  Edith  Abbott,  and  Miss  Mary 
Flexner,  of  Chicago,  to  Mr.  Abraham  Flexner,  of  New 
York,  and  to  the  members  of  the  special  committee  of 
the  National  Probation  Association  elsewhere  referred 
to,  all  of  whom  read  the  manuscript,  or  substantial 
parts  thereof,  and  made  valued  criticisms  and  sugges- 
tions. In  the  examination  of  the  literature  on  the  sub- 
ject and  in  the  preparation  of  the  reading  list  of  books 
and  pamphlets,  the  Louisville  Free  Public  Library,  the 
St.  Louis  Public  Library,  and  the  Library  of  Congress 
furnished  helpful  bibliographies. 

BERNARD  FLEXNER. 

ROGER  N.  BALDWIN. 


XII 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION >:    >;     .     vii 

PART  I. —  THE  LAW .     ;.       3 

Origin  of  the  Juvenile  Court. —  Criminal  vs.  Civil  Interpretation 
of  Juvenile  Court  Procedure. —  The  New  Idea  in  the  Law. — 
General  Principles  Involved. —  Jurisdiction  of  the  Court. —  Sug- 
gested Laws. 

PART  II. —  ORGANIZATION  AND  PROCEDURE     .     .     12 

Need  of  a  Consistent  System. —  THE  JUDGE. —  Rotation  of  Judges. — 
Woman  Assistant  in  Girls'  Cases. —  Geographical  Jurisdiction.— 
Qualifications  of  the  Judge. —  Special  vs.  Part-Time  Judges. —  Ad- 
visory Boards. —  METHODS  OF  BRINGING  CHILDREN  BEFORE  THE 
COURT. —  Delinquent  Children. —  Neglected  Children. —  Methods  of 
Detention. — INVESTIGATIONS.—  Classification  of  Investigations. — 
Organizing  the  Work  of  Investigations. —  The  Essentials  of  Good 
Investigation. —  Schedule  of  Information. —  Sources  of  Informa- 
tion.—  School  Investigation. —  Summary. —  Use  of  Detention  in 
Investigations. —  Medical  and  Physical  Examinations. —  The  Psy- 
chopathic Clinic. —  Standardizing  Investigations. —  The  Investi- 
gating Officer. —  The  Presentation  of  Investigations  in  Court. — 
Recording  Verbal  Testimony. —  The  Investigator  in  Court.— 
THE  COURT  ROOM  AND  COURT  PROCEDURE. —  Publicity. —  Arrange- 
ment and  Appearance  of  Court  Room. —  Types  of  Court  Rooms.— 
Arrangement  of  Probation  Offices. —  Frequency  of  Hearings. — 
Length  of  Hearings. —  Keeping  Minor  Cases  out  of  Court. —  Segre- 
gation of  Cases. —  Procedure  in  Court  Hearings. —  Groups  of  Chil- 
dren.—  Judicial  Dispositions. —  Discharges. —  Money  Penalties. — 
Restitution  and  Reparation. —  Commitments. —  Probation. —  Other 
Dispositions. —  Special  Cases. 

PART  III. —  PROBATION    ........     79 

HISTORY  AND  DEFINITION. —  Probation  as  a  Reconstructive 
Force. —  THE  EXERCISE  OF  THE  PROBATION  POWER. —  The  Judge's 
Relation  to  Probation. —  Probation  by  Trained  Probation  Officers. — 
Probation  on  a  Basis  of  Religious  Belief. —  Methods  of  Appoint- 
ment.—  The  Form  of  Examinations. —  Personality. —  Educational 
Qualifications. —  Examples  of  the  Written  Examination. —  Oral 
Examination. —  Securing  Desirable  Applicants. —  Salaries. —  Ex- 
penses.—  POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  PROBATION  OFFICERS. —  Re- 
lation to  Children  not  Legal  Wards. —  Relation  to  Legal  Wards. 
—  Conditions  of  Probation. —  ORGANIZATION  'OF  PROBATION  WORK. 


Contents 

PAGE 

—  The     Office     and     the     Public. —  Hours     of     Work. —  Esprit 
de     Corps. —  The    Assignment    of     Children    for     Probation    and 
Supervision. —  The  System  of  "  Individual  Assignment." —  The  Dis- 
trict System  of  Assignment  for  Probation  and  Supervision. —  The 
Number   of   Children   to   Each   Officer. —  Assignment  to   Volunteer 
Officers. —  Value    of    Private   Associations    Assisting   the   Court. — 
Policemen  as  Probation  Officers. —  Truant  Officers  as  Probation  Of- 
ficers.—  Court  Officers  as  Probation  Officers. —  Assignments  to  Pri- 
vate    Societies. —  PROBATION    METHODS. —  Collective    Reporting   by 
Children. —  The    Individual    Report. —  The    Character    of    the    Re- 
port.—  Parents'  Reports. —  School  Reports. —  Employers'  Reports. — 
Other  Reports. —  The  Interview  at  the  Time  of  the  Report. —  Fre- 
quency   of    Reports. —  Irregularities    in    Reports. —  VISITS    TO    THE 
HOME,  SCHOOL,  CHURCH,  AND  NEIGHBORHOOD. —  The  Use  of  Visits 
in  Probation. —  Frequency  of  Visits. —  Who  Should  Be  Seen. —  Se- 
curing   Information. —  Utilizing    Information. —  SPECIAL    PROBLEMS 
IN    PROBATION. —  Probation    Among    Foreign-Speaking    Peoples. — 
Colored    Children. —  Special    Work    in    the    Probation    of    Girls. — 
Violations  of  Probation. —  Discharges   from   Probation. —  Work   of 
the  Chief  Probation  Officer. —  Probation  Office  Work. —  The  Larger 
System  of  Cooperation. —  Probation  Methods  in  Rural  Districts. 

PART  IV. —  REPORTS  AND  STATISTICS    .      .      .      .173 

Introduction. —  Reports  of  Probation  Officers. —  General  Monthly 
Court  Report.—  Annual  Reports. —  Principles  of  Counting. —  Sub- 
division of  Groups. —  Comparison  with  Old  and  New  Cases. —  What 
Tables?  —  Summary. —  Maps. —  Use  of  Statistics. —  Uniformity 
for  States. —  Terminology. 

PART  V. —  FORMS 194 

Introduction. —  Legal  Records  Kept  by  the  Clerk. —  The  Probation 
Officer's  Record  and  Filing  System. —  Special  Indexes. —  Forms  for 
Use  in  Preparing  and  Recording  Cases. —  Forms  Used  in  Super- 
vision.—  Special  Forms. —  Forms  Used  by  Probation  Officers. —  In- 
structions Given  to  Children  by  the  Court. —  Forms  Used  by  Proba- 
tion Officers  in  the  Supervision  of  Children. —  Reports  of  Proba- 
tion Officers. —  Card  Index  Forms. —  Forms  Recommended  for  Use 
at  the  Detention  House. —  Legal  Forms  Used  by  the  Clerk. —  Or- 
ders of  Court  Entered  in  the  Clerk's  Docket  Book. —  Abbrevia- 
tions in  Common  Use  in  Juvenile  Courts. 

APPENDIX 255 

LAWS  AND  RULES  OF  COURT. —  Proposed  Model  Juvenile  Court  Law. 

—  Proposed  Law  for  Dealing  with  Adults  Who  Contribute  to  the  De- 
linquency   or    Neglect    of    Children. —  Rules    of    Court    Governing 
the  Place  of  Detention. —  Rules  of  Court  Governing  the  Probation 
Office. —  SELECTED  REFERENCES. 


INDEX 


299 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Proposed  Building  for  Juvenile  Court,  New  York 

City Frontispiece 

Room  arranged  for  the  private  hearing  of  girls'  cases  by 

a  special  woman  referee 13 

The  Juvenile  Court  and  Detention  Home  in  a  smaller 
city 21 

An  old  residence  in  a  city  of  250,000  used  as  a  Deten- 
tion Home 27 

One  of  the  larger  court  rooms  in  which  informality  and 

privacy  are  secured 43 

The  small  informal  court  room,  where  hearings  are  held 

practically  in  chambers 49 

New  Building  for  the  Children's  Court,  New  York  City. 

Plan  of  the  Court  Room  floor 55 

Large  court  room  planned  for  use  as  a  police  court  .  65 
Chart  illustrating  the  organization  of  a  Juvenile  Court  105 
Plan  for  Children's  Building in 

Milwaukee  Children's  Court  Building.     Plan  of  two 
floors 163 


JUVENILE  COURTS  AND 
PROBATION 


JUVENILE   COURTS   AND 
PROBATION 


PART  I 
THE  LAW 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    JUVENILE    COURT 

THE  modern  movement  with  reference  to  the  juvenile 
court  began  with  the  introduction  in  the  Illinois  legis- 
lature of  a  bill  creating  the  juvenile  court  for  the  State 
of  Illinois  and  the  establishment  of  the  court  in  Chicago 
in  July  1899.  It  is  difficult  to  state  with  absolute  pre- 
cision to  whom  is  due  the  credit  for  having  first  sug- 
gested the  thought  that  later  crystallized  into  the  Illinois 
juvenile  court  In  various  parts  of  the  country  prior 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Chicago  court,  public  senti- 
ment had  been  taking  shape  in  favor  of  some  method  of 
handling  children's  cases  other  than  that  which  had  been 
in  use  for  many  years. 

As  early  as  October  1893,  J.  J.  Kelso,  of  Toronto, 
Canada,  urged  the  establishment  of  such  courts  at  a 
meeting  in  Chicago  of  the  Waif-Saving  Congress,  and 
in  the  same  year  legislation  looking  to  the  establishment 
of  such  a  court  was  passed  in  the  Province  of  Ontario. 

3 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Practically  nothing  was  done,  however,  under  this  legis- 
lation. Prior  to  this  date,  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
and  certain  other  states  had  statutes  providing  for  the 
separate  hearing  of  children's  cases  apart  from  those  of 
adults.  An  act  along  the  same  general  line  of  the  Mass- 
achusetts act  for  the  separate  hearing  of  juvenile  of- 
fenders passed  the  Rhode  Island  legislature  in  1897  and 
became  a  law  in  1898.  Notwithstanding  these  earlier 
statutes,  however,  it  may  fairly  be  stated  that  the  first 
consistent  effort  looking  to  the  creation  of  the  juvenile 
court  as  an  institution  began  in  Illinois  in  1899. 

The  history  of  juvenile  probation  follows  closely  the 
history  of  the  juvenile  court.  While  adult  probation  had 
been  in  use  for  many  years  in  Massachusetts  prior  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Chicago  juvenile  court,  juvenile 
probation  was  not  officially  introduced,  nor  did  it  be- 
gin to  develop  until  after  the  creation  of  the  first  juve- 
nile court,  although  it  was  efficiently  supplied  by  a  pri- 
vate society  in  the  central  district  of  Boston  as  early  as 
1888. 

The  movement  providing  for  the  establishment  of 
courts  after  the  general  plan  of  the  Chicago  court  grew 
rapidly;  Colorado  followed  soon  with  the  well-known 
Denver  court,  and  during  the  intervening  years  the  move- 
ment has  grown  with  great  rapidity. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  as 
early  as  1890  children's  courts  had  been  introduced  into 
South  Australia  by  ministerial  order  and  were  subse- 
quently legalized  under  a  state  act  in  1895.  This  act 
provided  for  a  separate  court-room  in  the  city  of  Ade- 
laide. 


The  Law 

CRIMINAL  VS.    CIVIL   INTERPRETATION   OF   JUVENILE 
COURT   PROCEDURE 

In  purpose,  there  is  in  the  main  no  substantial  differ- 
ence between  juvenile  courts.  There  is,  however,  con- 
siderable difference  of  opinion  among  judges  as  to  the 
procedure  to  be  followed  in  order  that  the  functions  of 
the  court  may  be  adequately  and  advantageously  ex- 
pressed. We  find  on  the  one  hand  a  large  group  of 
judges  and  juvenile  court  workers  committed  to  the 
proposition  that  the  proceeding  involving  the  child  is  a 
civil  proceeding  in  the  nature  of  a  case  in  chancery, 
where  the  court  is  concerned  mainly  with  the  conditions 
responsible  for  the  appearance  of  the  child  in  court. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  smaller  group  who  adhere 
more  or  less  strongly  to  the  idea  that  the  proceedings  (in 
which  the  offense  is  chiefly  considered)  should  still  par- 
take of  the  nature  of  criminal  proceedings  in  which  the 
child  is  considered  a  wrongdoer.  The  weight  of  author- 
ity, however,  is  against  the  latter  interpretation.  When- 
ever courts  of  last  resort  have  been  called  upon  to  con- 
strue these  later  juvenile  court  acts,  they  have  uniformly 
sustained  them. 

While  the  distinction  between  the  criminal  and  civil 
or  chancery  or  equity  proceedings  (these  last  three  terms 
being  generally  used  interchangeably  to  indicate  the  non- 
criminal  proceeding)  as  applied  to  the  juvenile  court  is 
well  understood  by  lawyers,  it  is  not  always  clear  to  pro- 
bation officers  and  laymen  interested  in  the  court.  The 
distinction  is  fundamental,  and  the  proper  attitude  to- 
ward the  child  must  depend  in  large  measure  on  an  ap- 
preciation of  this  fact. 

5 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

In  trials  under  the  criminal  law,  the  indictment  charges 
the  commission  of  a  specific  crime.  It  is  set  out  in 
highly  technical  language  and  with  a  degree  of  particu- 
larity that  is  utterly  unintelligible  to  laymen  and,  as  a 
growing  number  of  lawyers  believe,  wholly  unnecessary. 
The  purpose  of  the  trial  is  to  adduce  sufficient  evidence 
to  prove  the  commission  of  the  particular  crime  with  the 
view  of  punishing  the  offender.  The  criminal  law  rests 
upon  the  proposition  that  to  vindicate  society  and  the 
law,  the  accused  must  be  punished.  The  many  social 
factors  which  are  involved  in  the  anti-social  act  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  trial  as  being  irrelevant.  In  trying  chil- 
dren under  criminal  juvenile  court  laws,  it  is  true  that 
many  of  the  rigid  rules  governing  the  trials  of  accused 
adults  have  been  modified  so  as  to  permit  an  inquiry  into 
the  social  circumstances  that  may  aid  the  court.  The 
principles,  however,  underlying  these  children's  courts 
are  essentially  the  same  as  the  principles  underlying  the 
criminal  courts  generally.  The  child  has  offended  against 
the  law;  he  is  charged  with  a  specific  offense;  he  is  often 
required,  as  in  the  case  of  adults,  to  answer  upon  the 
calling  of  the  case  "guilty"  or  "not  guilty";  he  is 
frequently  put  upon  oath,  and,  if  found  guilty,  the  court 
imposes  what  it  regards  as  a  punishment. 

In  the  proceedings  involving  the  child  under  the  civil, 
chancery  or  equity  practice  on  the  other  hand,  emphasis 
is  laid,  not  on  the  act  done  by  the  child,  but  on  the  social 
facts  and  circumstances  that  are  really  the  inducing 
causes  of  the  child's  appearance  in  court.  The  particular 
offense  which  was  the  immediate  and  proximate  cause 
of  the  proceedings  is  considered  only  as  one  of  the  many 

6 


The  Law 

factors  surrounding  the  child.  The  purpose  of  the  pro- 
ceeding here  is  not  punishment  but  correction  of  condi- 
tions, care  and  protection  of  the  child  and  prevention  of 
a  recurrence  through  the  constructive  work  of  the  court. 
Conservation  of  the  child,  as  a  valuable  asset  of  the  com- 
munity, is  the  dominant  note. 

There  is  nothing  essentially  new  in  this  idea.  It  em- 
bodies a  power  long  exercised  by  the  English  chancellors 
in  cases  of  children  who,  for  many  reasons,  were  by 
order  of  the  Chancery  Court  made  wards  of  the  King 
in  England  and  wards  of  the  State  in  this  country.  Un- 
der the  chancery  practice,  until  the  passage  of  the  first 
juvenile  court  law,  this  power  was  limited  to  the  cases  of 
children  whom  we  designate  variously  "  neglected,"  "  de- 
pendent," or  "  destitute  "  children. 

The  juvenile  court  laws  merely  extended  the  doctrine 
so  as  to  embrace  children  who  offended  against  the  law, 
there  being  fundamentally  no  distinction  between  the  re- 
sults desired  with  reference  to  the  various  classes  of  chil- 
dren with  whom  the  court  was  called  upon  to  deal. 

THE   NEW    IDEA   IN   THE   LAW 

The  legal  questions  involved  in  the  problem  of  the  de- 
linquent child,  while  not  complicated,  have,  nevertheless, 
given  rise  to  some  discussion  and  to  some  slight  dissent 
from  the  stand-point  of  constitutional  law.  Insofar  as 
the  court  deals  with  neglected  children  there  is  essentially 
nothing  new  in  its  method.  The  new  note  in  the  move- 
ment is  in  the  attitude  of  the  court  toward  the  delinquent 
or  offending  child.  Under  the  old  law  such  a  child  was 
considered  as  a  mere  law-breaker  and  offender  against 

7 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

the  public  peace,  to  be  reached  in  the  only  way  known  to 
the  law  of  reaching  him,  namely,  through  a  conviction 
for  a  specific  offense. 

According  to  this  view  no  distinction  is  made  between 
the  offending  child  and  the  adult  criminal ;  they  have  both 
violated  the  law  and  they  must  both  be  punished.  But 
at  common  law  a  child  under  seven  could  not  be  held 
responsible  for  his  criminal  acts.  From  time  to  time 
statutes  have  been  passed  fixing  the  arbitrary  age  limits 
below  which  the  child  is  not  deemed  to  be  criminally  re- 
sponsible and  above  which  he  may  be  punished  as  an 
adult.  The  juvenile  court  legislation  simply  carries  this 
idea  forward/  It  raise,s  the  age-limit  and  says  that  a 
child  under  sixteen  or  seventeen  or  eighteen  who  violates 
the  law  shall  not  be  deemed  a  criminal. 

This  is  the  distinctively  new  thought  in  the  modern 
juvenile  court  legislation.  As  opposed  to  the  principle 
that  children  are  to  be  treated  and  punished  as  adults  for 
violations  of  law,  it  undertakes  to  apply  to  the  delinquent 
child  the  same  procedure  it  would  apply  to  the  neglected 
child.  Under  this  theory,  the  court  becomes  a  concrete 
expression  of  the  State's  obligation  to  the  child ;  a  recog- 
nition that  the  child  is  in  court  as  the  result  of  condi- 
tions not  of  his  own  making,  and  that  he  has  a  valid 
claim  against  the  State  and  is  to  be  saved  to  it,  not  pun- 
ished by  it. 

The  weight  of  authority  sustains  the  above  statement 
of  the  principle  underlying  this  legislation,  the  courts 
holding  that  the  paramount  object  sought  to  be  accom- 
plished under  the  legislation  is  the  protection  of  the  child ; 
that  the  State  through  the  court  is  merely  acting  in  its 

8 


The  Law 

capacity  of  parens  patriae  for  the  proper  training,  edu- 
cation and  reformation  of  the  child;  that  the  proceeding 
is  not  a  criminal  proceeding;  that  the  child  is  not  de- 
prived of  its  liberty  without  due  process  of  law  nor  that 
such  laws  are  unconstitutional,  because  the  child  is  de- 
prived of  a  trial  by  jury.  It  has  been  held  that  the 
juvenile  court  acts  framed  on  this  theory  must  not  pro- 
vide for  that  which  is  clearly  punishment,  e.g.,  a  fine  or 
penalty,  either  of  which  would  make  them  unconstitu- 
tional. 

In  holding,  as  the  cases  do,  that  the  State  is  the  ulti- 
mate parent  of  the  child,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  primary  right  of  custody  to  the  child  is  in  its  parents, 
and  this  primary  right  of  the  parent  is  not  to  be  inter- 
fered with  until  such  parent  has  forfeited  its  right  by 
reason  of  some  act  of  commission  or  omission  sufficient 
under  the  law  to  deprive  such  parent  of  the  custody.  It 
follows  as  a  matter  of  course  that  where  there  is  a  pos- 
sibility in  every  case  of  disturbing  the  custody,  the  par- 
ents should  be  given  a  full  opportunity  to  be  heard  in 
reference  to  their  primary  rights. 

GENERAL   PRINCIPLES   INVOLVED 

There  is  general  agreement  as  to  the  main  principles 
involved  in  such  legislation.  The  child  must  be  kept 
separate  from  the  adult  criminal.  The  court  must  be 
organized  primarily,  not  with  a  view  of  inflicting  a  pun- 
ishment, but  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  conditions. 
The  parent  must  be  made  to  feel  more  responsible  for 
tjie  wrong-doing  of  his  child.  Commitment  of  children 
to  jail,  no  matter  what  the  offense,  must  be  avoided. 

9 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Taking  a  child  away  from  its  parents  is  as  far  as  pos- 
sible to  be  avoided,  and  when  he  is  permitted  to  return 
home  it  must  be  under  probation  subject  to  the  guidance 
and  friendly  interest  of  a  probation  officer  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  court. 

JURISDICTION   OF   THE   COURT 

A  proper  regard  for  the  foregoing  statement  of  the 
principles  underlying  the  law  demands,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  the  judges  and  every  part  of  the  judicial 
machinery  be  socialized.  The  court  must  be  so  organ- 
ized that  it  can  be  readily  brought  into  touch  with  and 
be  given  the  opportunity  of  correcting  all  of  the  condi- 
tions responsible  for  the  appearance  of  the  child  in 
court  To  this  end  the  court  should  be  clothed  with 
power  to  enforce  all  other  laws  affecting  children,  e.g., 
compulsory  education  law,  child  labor  law,  and  laws  for 
the  punishment  of  adults  who  contribute  to  the  condi- 
tions of  neglect  and  delinquency  in  children. 

In  some  states  the  juvenile  court  is  given  concurrent 
jurisdiction  with  police,  municipal  or  criminal  courts  in 
a  certain  class  of  cases  affecting  children,  or  over  adults 
who  contribute  to  conditions  of  neglect  or  delinquency 
in  children.  It  may  fairly  be  said  that  in  all  of  the 
foregoing  class  of  cases,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  juvenile 
court  should  be  exclusive  unless  for  compelling  reasons 
it  is  necessary  to  divide  the  jurisdiction  with  some  other 
tribunal. 

In  its  treatment  of  the  adult  who  contributes  to  the 
child's  condition,  the  juvenile  court  as  a  whole  has  failed 
signally.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  failure  is  due  in  large 

10 


The  Law 

measure  to  the  fact  that  the  juvenile  court  judge,  in 
many  states,  has  jurisdiction  of  the  child  only  and  the 
contributing  adult  must  be  sent  into  another  court  for 
trial.  We  can  never  hope  to  solve  this  problem  until 
\ve  vest  in  one  and  the  same  court  —  having  criminal  and 
equitable  jurisdiction  —  the  power  to  hear  the  child's 
case  and  to  punish  if  need  be  the  adult,  be  he  parent  or 
stranger,  who  is  responsible  for  the  appearance  of  the 
child  in  court. 

SUGGESTED   LAWS 

Desirable  as  it  may  be  to  secure  uniformity  in  juvenile 
court  laws,  it  must  be  conceded  that  it  is  practically  im- 
possible to  draw  a  uniform  law  that  will  fit  into  the 
constitutional  provisions  and  statutory  enactments  of  all 
the  states.  The  essential  principles,  however,  are  easily 
embodied  in  a  general  law,  and  with  a  view  of  suggest- 
ing these  essential  principles,  the  draft  of  a  juvenile 
court  law  and  a  law  providing  for  the  punishment  of 
adults  who  contribute  to  delinquency  and  neglect  are 
printed  in  the  appendix.  Before  adopting  these  laws, 
local  attorneys  should  be  advised  with,  so  as  to  avoid 
any  conflict  with  the  constitution  or  statutes  that  may  be 
in  force.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  embody  in  the 
law  itself  certain  highly  necessary  rules  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  court.  A  draft  of  such  a  proposed 
set  of  rules  is  likewise  included  in  the  appendix. 


II 


PART  II 
ORGANIZATION  AND  PROCEDURE 

NEED    OF   A    CONSISTENT    SYSTEM 

THE  juvenile  court,  being  an  explicit  acknowledgment 
of  the  State  to  throw  around  the  child  its  aid  and  pro- 
tection and  to  direct  it  into  the  path  that  leads  to  good 
citizenship,  requires  something  entirely  different  in  the 
demeanor  of  the  judge  and  the  court  itself  from  that 
under  the  old  law.  From  the  moment  the  law  lays  its 
hands  upon  the  child,  he  must  feel  that  the  whole  object 
of  the  proceeding  in  which  he  is  involved  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  protecting  and  not  of  punishing,  of  helping  and 
not  stigmatizing  him.  The  whole  process,  therefore, 
should  be  consistent.  It  is  practically  useless  to  make 
the  basis  of  the  system  educational  from  the  time  the 
child  is  placed  on  probation  and  at  the  same  time  adhere 
to  the  old  methods  of  arrest,  detention  and  trial. 

SECTION  i.     THE  JUDGE 

ROTATION   OF   JUDGES 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  juvenile  court  is  not  infre- 
quently placed  in  a  court  made  up  of  a  number  of  judges 
who  rotate  from  one  division  of  the  court  to  another, 
more  or  less  personal  relation  with  the  child  cannot  be 
worked  out  in  a  court  with  rotating  judges.  The  proba- 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

tion  office  needs  the  background  of  intelligent  coopera- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  judge  not  only  in  the  cases  in  the 
mass  but  in  individual  cases,  and  this  can  only  be  gotten 
where  the  judge  sits  for  a  sufficient  time  to  enable  him 
to  know  the  children  brought  before  him. 

If  the  organization  of  the  court,  therefore,  is  such  as 
to  make  it  necessary  that  the  judges  rotate,  the  assign- 
ments of  the  judges  to  the  juvenile  court  should  under 
no  circumstances  be  for  less  than  the  judicial  year,  and 
preferably  for  a  longer  period.  The  practice  indulged 
in  in  certain  jurisdictions  of  assigning  a  different  judge 
to  the  juvenile  court  for  short  periods  varying  from  one 
to  three  or  four  months  is  altogether  vicious.  It  is  im- 
possible for  these  judges  to  gain  the  necessary  experience 
in  such  a  short  time  or  devote  the  time  necessary  to  the 
study  of  new  problems. 

WOMAN   ASSISTANT   IN   GIRLS*    CASES 

The  most  significant  contribution  to  juvenile  court  pro- 
cedure since  its  original  conception  is  the  appointment 
in  a  few  cities  of  a  woman  assistant  to  hear  and  pass 
upon  all  girls'  cases.  In  the  several  cities  in  which  this 
has  been  done  (Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  Denver)  no  new 
legislation  has  been  necessary.  The  judge  of  the  court 
has  appointed  in  each  case  a  woman  probation  officer  to 
the  position  of  assistant  as  referee  for  girls.  The  cases 
coming  before  the  girls'  referee  are  investigated  and  pre- 
pared by  the  probation  officers  in  the  regular  way.  Girls' 
cases  are  handled,  of  course,  by  women  only.  The  court 
is  held  informally  in  a  small  room  fitted  up  like  an  office. 
The  referee  secures  the  facts,  arrives  at  her  decision, 

15 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

which  is  transmitted  to  the  judge  of  the  court  and  entered 
by  him  as  a  judgment  of  the  court.  In  Chicago  girls 
are  given  the  option  of  appearing  before  the  regular 
juvenile  court  judge,  or  the  woman  assistant.  Up  to 
January  1914,  after  nine  months  of  operation,  not  one 
girl  had  elected  to  appear  before  the  regular  juvenile 
judge. 

The  ease  with  which  this  plan  was  inaugurated  indi- 
cates not  only  that  it  will  be  favorably  received  through- 
out the  country,  but  also  that  it  will  accomplish  several 
important  things : 

1.  It  offers  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  handling  the 
girl  in  court.     It  places  her  in  the  most  advantageous 
position  possible  —  one  that  protects  her  and  encourages 
franker  discussion  than  when  she  is  called  upon  to  tell 
her  story  to  a  man. 

2.  It  sifts  the  work  for  the  judge  and  relieves  him  of 
the  most  baffling  part  of  his  work,  thus  giving  him  more 
time  for  the  problem  of  the  boy. 

A  better  system  than  the  arrangement  already  adopted 
would  be  to  have  the  appointment  of  a  woman  especially 
authorized,  to  give  her  whole  time  to  the  work  and  to 
be  paid  as  a  referee  for  girls'  cases,  even  though  she  be 
selected  from  the  probation  force.  She  should,  however, 
have  no  probation  work  to  do,  other  than  follow  up  the 
treatment  of  the  girls  placed  upon  probation.  The  ele- 
ment of  paramount  importance  is  the  woman  who  pre- 
sides. As  far  as  possible  men  should  be  excluded  from 
the  room.  All  persons  who  are  connected  with  the  case 
of  a  girl  from  the  time  of  her  arrest,  throughout  the 
treatment  given  her  by  the  court,  should  be  women.  In 

16 


Organization  and  Procedure 

such  cases  as  these  and  with  such  an  arrangement,  a 
private  hearing  in  chambers  is  thoroughly  justified. 

GEOGRAPHICAL   JURISDICTION 

The  jurisdiction  is  most  frequently  placed  in  a  court 
whose  jurisdiction  is  co-extensive  with  the  county. 
Wherever  it  is  possible  this  should  be  done  so  as  to  secure 
uniformity  of  treatment  for  all  children  in  the  community. 
The  argument  in  favor  of  placing  the  jurisdiction  in  a 
municipal  court  with  a  number  of  branches,  presided  over 
by  different  judges,  is  open  to  the  serious  objection  of  in- 
troducing utterly  different  methods  of  handling  the  cases 
and  of  having  the  work  done  in  many  cases  by  judges  who 
have  neither  the  qualification  for  nor  any  real  interest  in 
the  work. 

A  difficult  problem  is  presented  in  counties  where  the 
county  seat  is  far  removed  from  other  parts  of  the  county. 
No  entirely  satisfactory  way  out  of  this  difficulty  has 
been  found.  The  best  solution  would  seem  to  be  offered 
by  the  Colorado  law  providing  for  the  appointment  of 
masters  of  discipline,  who  are  empowered  to  hear  the  case 
in  the  first  instance  with  the  right  to  have  the  whole 
matter  reviewed  by  the  judge. 

QUALIFICATIONS   OF   THE   JUDGE 

The  personality  of  the  judge  is,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
all-important  because  of  the  great  responsibility  that  rests 
upon  him.  It  is  desirable  that  he  be  a  trained  lawyer, 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  principles  underlying  the 
legislation.  He  should,  however,  be  more  than  a  lawyer. 
He  should  be  a  student  of  and  deeply  interested  in  the 

17 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

problems  of  philanthropy  and  child-life  and  a  lover  of 
children.  He  should  be  able  to  understand  the  child's 
point  of  view  and  its  ideas  of  justice;  should  be  willing 
and  patient  enough  to  search  out  the  underlying  causes 
of  the  trouble  and  to  formulate  the  plan  by  which,  through 
the  cooperation  of  other  agencies,  the  cure  may  be 
effected.  Obviously,  therefore,  there  is  here  presented  a 
formidable  argument  against  the  assignment  to  this 
court  of  judges  who  may  be  well  suited  to  other  judicial 
duties  but  totally  unsuited  to  work  in  the  juvenile  court. 

SPECIAL   VS.    PART-TIME   JUDGES 

It  is  difficult  to  lay  down  any  general  rule  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  conditions  in  a  given  community  call 
for  a  judge  giving  his  entire  time  to  the  juvenile  court. 
It  may  fairly  be  stated,  however,  that  if  the  number 
of  cases  are  such  as  to  make  it  desirable  to  hold  daily 
sessions  of  the  court,  a  special  judge  should  be  pro- 
vided for  the  work.  It  may  likewise  be  stated  that 
it  is  a  mistake  to  place  the  jurisdiction  in  a  court 
where  the  judicial  duties  of  the  presiding  judge  make 
it  impossible  for  him  to  give  more  than  one  day  a 
week  to  the  juvenile  court,  a  condition  too  frequently 
met  with.  The  calendars  of  courts  of  this  character 
often  run  from  thirty  to  fifty  cases  weekly  and  the  judge 
with  every  desire  not  to  do  so  is  forced  to  give  merely 
perfunctory  attention  to  much  of  the  work.  Where  the 
jurisdiction  is  placed  in  an  existing  court,  a  court  should 
be  selected,  if  possible,  where  the  judge  can  give  two  or 
three  days  a  week  to  the  juvenile  court.  It  is  not  only 
desirable  that  the  judge  should  have  ample  time  for  a 

18 


Organization  and  Procedure 

proper  consideration  of  the  cases,  but  that  he  should  have 
time  to  enable  him  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  administra- 
tive side  of  the  court  and  with  the  work  of  the  probation 
officers. 

ADVISORY   BOARDS 

A  great  many  of  the  laws  provide  for  the  appointment 
of  an  Advisory  Board  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the 
judge  on  the  administrative  side  of  the  work.  The  work 
of  these  boards  has  not  been  uniformly  good.  Not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  some  of  the  boards  appointed 
in  this  way  have  failed  to  accomplish  anything  worth 
while,  the  provision  in  the  laws  for  their  appointment  has 
merit  and  should  be  preserved.  A  few  serious  men  and 
women  genuinely  interested  in  the  work  can  do  a  great 
deal  in  stimulating  public  interest  in  the  court. 

SECTION  2.     METHODS  OF  BRINGING  CHILDREN 

BEFORE  THE  COURT 
DELINQUENT  CHILDREN 

The  delinquent  child  is  taken  into  custody  either  by  a 
police  officer  or  other  peace  officer  or  probation  or  truant 
officer,  who  under  the  law  is  clothed  with  the  power  of  the 
sheriff  or  peace  officer.  The  patrol  wagon  should  never 
be  used  for  taking  children  into  custody.  When  trans- 
portation is  necessary  the  street  car  should  be  used. 
Arrest  and  detention  is  necessary  only  in  cases  of  run- 
aways, children  so  far  beyond  parents'  control  that  they 
are  unable  to  bring  them  to  court,  and  exceptionally 
serious  offenses. 

19 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Ample  provision  should  be  made  so  that  any  child  may 
be  released  expeditiously  upon  a  bond  or  his  own  recog- 
nizance. The  juvenile  court  law  usually  provides  that 
the  probation  officer  or  one  of  his  assistants  may  release 
the  child  taken  into  custody  upon  bond  with  surety,  or 
upon  a  recognizance.  This  power  may  likewise  be  lodged 
in  a  clerk  or  in  the  superintendent  or  custodian  of  the 
detention  home.  Needless  detention  of  children  being 
the  thing  to  guard  against,  the  power  of  release  upon  a 
simple  written  promise  to  appear  might  with  safety  be 
lodged  in  a  police  captain  of  a  district  or  a  police  officer 
as  well  as  the  probation  officers.  It  follows  that  prom- 
ises thus  taken,  or  releases  granted,  should  be  promptly 
reported  to  the  proper  office. 

Whenever  any  process  is  necessary  to  bring  either  the 
child  or  its  parents  into  court,  a  summons  should  be  used, 
unless  for  urgent  reasons  it  is  necessary  to  resort  to  a 
warrant  of  arrest.  The  processes  of  the  criminal  court 
carrying  with  them  certain  odium  and  not  tending  to 
help  in  the  education  of  the  child  are  to  be  avoided  except 
where  the  other  processes  fail. 

NEGLECTED    CHILDREN 

It  follows  from  the  foregoing,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
that  a  warrant  should  never  be  used  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  neglected  children  into  court,  but  where  any 
process  is  necessary,  a  summons  should  be  used.  In 
some  cases  where  neglected  children  are  in  acute  need  — 
for  instance  where  children  are  exposed  to  open  im- 
morality—  it  may  be  necessary  to  take  charge  of  .them 
at  once,  before  any  proceedings  are  instituted  on  which 

20 


Organization  and  Procedure 

a  summons  can  be  served.  The  law  usually  permits  all 
police  and  peace  officers  to  take  children  into  custody 
when  found  in  such  a  situation,  and  to  file  petitions 
afterwards.  In  certain  other  cases,  after  the  filing  of 
a  petition,  conditions  may  warrant  the  immediate  de- 
tention of  a  neglected  child,  and  the  judge  may  by  a 
general  order  covering  all  such  cases,  or  by  a  special 
order  in  each  case,  direct  probation  officers  to  take  charge 
of  such  children  pending  hearing. 

METHODS    OF   DETENTION 

No  child  should  be  detained  at  all,  unless  detention  is 
essential  to  securing  his  presence  in  court.  Even  when 
detention  is  necessary,  a  child  under  the  juvenile  court 
age  should  not  be  placed  in  a  police  station  or  in  a  jail) 
In  some  jurisdictions,  however,  it  is  optional  with  the 
arresting  officer  whether  children  over  fourteen  shall  be 
placed  in  the  regular  jail  or  in  a  place  of  detention  for 
children.  A  separate  place  of  detention  for  children  of 
juvenile  court  age  should  be  provided,  and  adequate  pro- 
vision made  for  the  detention  of  all  children  whom  it 
may  be  necessary  to  detain.  Police  stations  and  jails 
should  not  be  used  for  children  under  sixteen  years  of 
age  under  any  circumstances. 

A  proper  place  of  detention  for  children  should  be 
provided  either  by  the  municipality  or  the  county.  In 
order  to  meet  the  necessary  requirements,  this  place  of 
detention  must  be  more  than  simply  a  building  or  a  room 
where  the  child  is  separated  from  the  adult.  It  must  be 
a  place  that  approximates  a  home  or  a  school.  Care 
must  be  had,  however,  to  guard  against  the  possibility  of 

23 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

alienating  the  child  from  its  own  home.  It  must  not  be 
a  place  to  which  the  child,  except  under  most  unusual 
conditions,  will  want  to  return  of  its  own  volition. 

The  home  as  a  matter  of  course  must  be  separate  and 
apart  from  the  jail,  but  in  order  to  reduce  the  cost  of 
administration  expenses  may  be  shared  with  other  munic- 
ipal offices.  Entirely  separate  quarters  in  a  jail  or 
police  station,  but  not  connected  in  any  way  with  parts 
of  the  building  used  by  adult  prisoners,  may  be  made 
to  satisfy  the  requirements  for  complete  separation.  One 
court  utilizes  in  an  apparently  satisfactory  way  the  third 
floor  of  the  police  headquarters,  receiving  light  and  heat 
from  the  plant  below.  There  is  no  connection  whatever 
between  the  two.  This  arrangement  is  not  to  be  con- 
fused with  an  arrangement  whereby  the  detention  home 
receiving  its  food  from  the  jail  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
part  of  the  jail  and  its  general  administration. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  problem  of  the  de- 
tention home  can  only  be  worked  out  upon  such  an 
elaborate  basis  as  has  been  tried  in  some  of  the  larger 
communities.  It  varies  indeed  widely  in  different  cities. 
We  have  every  variation  between  no  detention  house  at 
all  in  Boston  to  elaborate  detention  quarters  in  Chicago. 
The  problem  must  be  solved  in  each  community  accord- 
ing to  local  conditions.  In  Boston  the  juvenile  court 
utilizes  private  families  sought  out  and  supervised  by  the 
Children's  Aid  Society  for  many  boys  (of  all  ages)  and 
most  girls  who  must  be  held  elsewhere  than  in  their 
homes.  They  have  the  best  of  family  care  —  only  one 
at  a  time  in  a  family.  Some  of  the  boys  under  fourteen 
are  placed  in  the  detention  home  of  the  State  Board  of 

24 


Organization  and  Procedure 

Charity  ten  miles  away,  and  a  very  few  girls  who  are 
witnesses  in  serious  cases  are  kept  in  the  rooms  of  the 
"  Cruelty  Society."  No  boys  under  fourteen  are  kept 
in  jail  or  cells  of  any  kind,  but  a  good  many  boys  fifteen 
years  of  age  or  over  (the  majority  of  them  being  six- 
teen) are  committed  to  jail  where,  however,  they  are  not 
allowed  to  mingle  in  any  way  with  older  prisoners.  Only 
about  150  children  a  year  are  detained  in  any  way. 

In  St.  Louis  it  was  found  that  the  number  of  children 
sent  to  the  House  of  Detention  before  hearing  was  so 
small  —  an  average  of  three  a  day  —  that  the  per  capita  7p* 
cost  was  running  as  high  as  $5.00  or  $6.00  per  child  per 
day.     In  other  words,  a  child  could  have  been  boarded  at 

j 

the  most  expensive  hotel  in  the  city  with  a  real  saving  to 
the  community.  In  another  city  the  per  capita  was  run- 
ning between  $10.00  and  $15.00  a  day  and  the  situation 
became  so  ridiculous  that  the  Detention  House  was  given 
up  and  the  children  who  had  to  be  detained  were  held 
in  private  institutions.  In  all  except  the  largest  cities, 
the  need  can  be  met  by  a  comparatively  small  place  of 
detention,  either  by  reconstructing  an  old  dwelling,  or 
arranging  separate  quarters  in  a  police  station,  as  in 
Cleveland,  or  in  some  other  municipal  building. 

It  is  very  seldom  really  necessary  to  keep  children  in 
the  House  of  Detention  after  hearing,  and  only  under 
exceptional  circumstances  should  it  be  done.  If  a  child 
needs  institutional  treatment,  he  should  be  in  an  institu- 
tion especially  equipped,  and  for  a  longer  period  of  time 
than  he  can  be  housed  in  a  small  building  without  outdoor 
exercise  and  play.  The  Detention  House  should  be  used 
so  far  as  possible  only  for  children  awaiting  hearing. 

25 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Even  then  the  number  should  be  reduced  to  the  lowest 
possible  minimum  by  a  system  of  release  on  promise  to 
appear  in  court. 

In  rural  communities  the  need  of  easy  releases  is  par- 
ticularly emphasized  by  the  impossibility  of  maintain- 
ing any  sort  of  a  separate  Detention  Home.  The 
best  arrangement  that  can  be  made  for  detention 
use  is  the  sheriff's  house,  or  the  home  of  some  other 
officer. 

Whatever  the  arrangement  made  for  the  detention  of 
children,  there  are  a  few  general  matters  which  should 
receive  attention.  Those  in  charge  of  detention  homes 
usually  remove  from  children  articles  with  which  they 
'  might  do  damage  during  their  confinement.  Such  ar- 
ticles should  be  carefully  preserved  and  returned  to  the 
child  after  the  court  hearing,  unless  otherwise  ordered 
by  the  judge.  /  In  many  courts,  the  sheriff,  who  has 
,  charge  of  all  such  property,  either  fails  to  return  the 
articles  to  the  children,  or  destroys  what  he,  or  his 
deputies,  regards  as  "  junk." 

Children  in  detention  should  not  be  cut  off  from  visits 
by  relatives.  Many  houses  of  detention  apply  the  same 
"  no  visitors  "  rule  that  the  jails  apply,  although  the  same 
reason  for  not  permitting  relatives  to  visit  does  not  exist. 
At  reasonable  hours  and  under  proper  restrictions,  chil- 
dren should  be  allowed  to  see  their  immediate  relatives, 
unless  forbidden  on  order  of  the  judge  or  the  chief  pro- 
bation officer. 

Whatever  the  arrangements  made  for  detaining  chil- 
dren, the  ideal  situation  is  the  complete  isolation  of  each 
child  before  hearing.  If  children  are  thrown  together 

26 


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3 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

they  will  naturally  talk  about  the  reasons  for  their  deten- 
tion, and  the  stories  of  their  misfortunes  and  misdeeds 
can  be  only  harmful.  That  is  not  a  policy  of  "  protec- 
tion and  education."  If  a  House  of  Detention  is  to  be 
constructed  or  reconstructed,  therefore,  it  should  provide 
for  individual  sleeping  rooms  for  children  and  a  day- 
room  when  they  will  be  together  only  under  supervision 
and  direction. 

The  officers  in  charge  of  the  Detention  Home  ought  to 
be  appointed  in  the  same  manner  in  which  the  probation 
officers  are  appointed.  In  some  jurisdictions  the  proba- 
tion officer  is  also  superintendent  of  the  Detention  Home 
and  resides  there.  This  is  only  possible,  or  desirable, 
where  the  docket  of  the  court  is  small. 

SECTION  3.     INVESTIGATIONS 
CLASSIFICATION  OF  INVESTIGATIONS 

The  cases  investigated  in  a  juvenile  court  fall  readily  ^ 
under  three  heads:  (i)  delinquent  children;  (2)  neg- 
lected and  destitute  children;  (3)  those  special  investi- 
gations involving  examinations  of  homes  and  neighbor- 
hoods for  the  purpose  of  release  or  parole  from  institu- 
tions, a  change  of  custody,  etc. 

Most  delinquent  children  come  into  court  through  one 
of  three  sources:     (i)  the  Police  Department;  (2)  the  i^u^ 
Attendance  (or  truant)   Officers  of  the  public  schools; 
(3)    on  complaint  filed  with  the  probation  officer   or 
clerk  of  the  court. 

Some  cases  come  also  on  information  issued  by  the 
prosecuting  officers  where  the  criminal  procedure  still 
prevails. 

29 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

The  cases  of  neglected  children  are  brought  to  court 
by  the  same  agencies  as  the  delinquent.  A  larger  num- 
ber of  cases  come  through  complaints  made  direct  to  the 
officers  of  the  court  by  humane  societies,  charities,  set- 
tlements and  neighbors. 

The  special  investigations  mentioned  above  are  those 
which  have  to  do  -with  the  routine  work  of  the  court 
after  a  case  has  once  been  thoroughly  investigated.  They 
are  in  the  nature  of  what  might  be  called  "  supplementary 
investigations."  An  investigation  of  this  type  is  one  in 
which,  for  instance,  a  child  has  been  sent  to  an  institu- 
tion because  of  unfortunate  conditions  at  home.  After 
some  months  in  the  institution,  it  is  necessary  to  see 
whether  conditions  in  the  home  are  improving.  Inquiries 
have  to  be  made  of  neighbors,  or  relatives  and  friends. 
A  personal  investigation  has  to  be  made  of  the  home. 
The  institution  must  be  consulted  about  the  child.  This 
supplementary  examination,  added  to  the  background  of 
original  investigation,  is  necessary  to  determine  what 
action  the  court  shall  take.  Investigations  of  this  type 
are,  of  course,  frequent  in  juvenile  courts,  and  differ  in 
character  from  the  original  or  "  preliminary  investiga- 
tions." 

ORGANIZING   THE   WORK   OF   INVESTIGATIONS 

In  order  to  decide  wisely,  a  judge  must  have  in  his 
possession  the  essential  facts  regarding  the  life  of  the 
child  and  be  assured  that  these  facts  come  from  reliable 
sources  known  to  the  court.  Wherever  paid  probation 
officers  are  employed,  the  investigations  should  be  made 
by  these  officers.  If  first  made  by  some  other  agent, 

30 


Organization  and  Procedure 

they  should  be  checked  up  and  verified  by  the  probation 
officers  in  every  case. 

In  the  cases  brought  in  by  the  police,  the  information 
given  by  them  usually  covers  fully  the  circumstances  of 
the  charge,  together  with  a  few  facts  about  the  child, 
such  as  his  age,  address,  and  name  and  address  of  parents. 
Where  the  child  is  held  in  detention,  it  is  a  simple  matter 
for  the  probation  officers  to  follow  up  the  police  informa- 
tion by  inquiries  of  the  child.  Where  the  police  have 
released  the  child  on  a  bond  or  recognizance,  the  work  of 
getting  the  elementary  facts  is  more  difficult,  and  the  in- 
formation given  by  the  police  becomes  an  essential  guide 
in  the  character  of  investigation  to  be  made. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  information 
which  the  police  give  is  often  biased  by  the  desire  of 
the  police  officer  to  "  make  a  case."  The  welfare  of  the 
child  is  usually  a  consideration  secondary  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  prosecuting  witness  and  the  "  efficiency  "  of 
the  department  in  securing  convictions.  While  this  is 
not  always  true,  still  this  very  common  attitude  on  the 
part  of  the  police  must  be  taken  into  account  in  using  the 
information  they  furnish.  This  attitude  on  the  part  of 
the  police  is  emphasized  in  those  states  where  the  fee 
system  still  prevails  and  the  arresting  officer  is  paid  a  fee 
in  all  cases  of  conviction. 

The  information  which  the  probation  officer  receives 
about  a  child  before  making  his  own  investigation  is 
usually  fragmentary,  even  where  the  arresting  officer  is 
well-informed.  //  should  be  the  policy  of  juvenile  courts 
to  insist  that  all  complainants  —  the  police  and  truant  offi- 
cers especially  —  should  give  to  the  probation  officer  every 

31 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

fact  in  their  possession  about  a  child,  written  on  -forms 
provided  for  that  purpose,  and  presented  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  the  child  has  been  taken  into  custody,  or  the 
complaint  lodged.  When  private  citizens  or  parents  are 
the  complainants,  and  unfamiliar  with  the  routine  of  the 
court,  the  probation  officers  necessarily  put  in  writing  the 
information  given  verbally  to  them. 

In  one  court  the  police  department  and  attendance 
officers  file  at  the  same  time  with  the  legal  complaint  a 
full  written  statement  giving  all  the  facts  known  about 
the  child  complained  of.  The  police  statements  consist 
of  typewritten  letters,  signed  by  the  captain  or  lieutenant 
of  the  district  in  which  the  child  is  arrested  or  com- 
plained of.  The  attendance  officers  file  their  information 
on  forms  prepared  and  provided  by  the  probation  office. 
This  system  is  to  be  strongly  commended,  because  it 
makes  immediately  available  for  use  of  the  probation 
officers  and  the  court,  every  fact  known  by  the  officer 
who  has  taken  the  child  into  custody.  Written  on  reg- 
ular forms  or  as  letters  they  form  a  permanent  record  of 
important  information  in  every  case. 

Many  cases  before  the  juvenile  court  do  not  require  a 
thorough  investigation  —  particularly  those  in  which  the 
complaint  is  of  a  very  trivial  character,  violations  of  such 
ordinances  as  those  forbidding  ball-playing  on  the  streets, 
or  building  fires  on  vacant  lots.  But  in  all  such  cases 
the  investigating  officer  should  determine  by  inquiry  of 
the  child  and  of  the  parent  (and  in  cases  of  school  chil- 
dren, of  the  school)  whether  the  child's  home  surround- 
ings and  habits  are  satisfactory.  The  mere  fact  that  a 
child  has  been  brought  before  the  court  does  not  justify 

32 


Organization  and  Procedure 

a  lengthy  investigation,  especially  if  the  act  complained 
of  be  trivial  and  conditions  good, 

In  a  city  where  there  is  a  central  bureau  of  registra- 
tion of  the  cases  and  families  dealt  with  by  the  social 
agencies,  immediate  reference  should  be  made  to  it  in 
every  case.  There  should  be  such  a  "  charities  registra- 
tion bureau  "  or  "  confidential  exchange  "  of  information 
in  every  city,  and  where  there  is  none,  the  juvenile  court 
officers  should  secure  its  establishment.  The  Bureau,  if 
used  by  all  the  public  and  private  agencies  working  with 
individual  families,  furnishes  at  once  to  any  agency  in- 
quiring, a  record  of  all  the  other  agencies  which  have  had 
anything  to  do  with  members  of  that  family.  Usually 
no  information  is  given  except  the  names  of  the  agencies, 
leaving  the  inquiring  agency  to  follow  up  by  direct  in- 
quiry of  them.  Not  only  does  this  registration  of  cases 
give  the  court  access  to  information  known  by  other 
agencies,  and  thus  makes  a  full  and  complete  investiga- 
tion, but  the  information  often  serves  at  once  as  a  basis 
for  treatment  which  could  otherwise  have  been  deter- 
mined only  by  long  acquaintance  with  a  child  or  his 
family.  The  experience  of  the  court  can  also  thus  be 
made  available  for  other  agencies,  particularly  in  cases 
of  neglect,  where  a  full  knowledge  of  the  family  is  neces- 
sary to  the  proper  treatment  of  any  member  of  it. 

THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   GOOD   INVESTIGATION 

There  are  two  essential  groups  of  facts  to  be  covered^ 
in  a  good  juvenile  court  investigation;  first,  the  circum- 
stances leading  directly  to  the  cause  of  complaint,  re- 
lating to  the  charge  in  the  case  of  a  delinquent  child  and 

33 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

to  the  acts  or  failures  of  parents  in  the  case  of  a  neg- 
lected child;  and,  second,  the  social  factors  of  the  child's 
life  and  his  entire  past  history. 

The  first  group  of  facts  is  secured  from  the  arresting 
officer,  complainant  and  the  witnesses.  The  child  is  often 
interviewed  also  to  secure  his  or  her  statement  of  the  cir- 
cumstances leading  up  to  the  complaint. 

It  is  often  argued,  however,  that  the  child  should  not  be 
questioned  before  a  hearing,  because  of  the  constitutional 
guarantees  protecting  defendants.  If  questioned,  it  is 
argued,  children  should  be  told  that  "  anything  they  say 
may  be  used  against  them."  This  view  is  entirely  out  of 
harmony  with  the  theory  of  juvenile  court  procedure, 
which  does  not  regard  a  child  as  a  defendant  in  a  criminal 
action,  but  as  a  child  for  whom  the  court  may  be  called 
upon  to  act  in  the  role  of  parent.  Therefore,  any  in- 
formation which  will  assist  in  laying  the  whole  case  truth- 
fully before  the  court  should  be  secured.  For  the  effect 
on  the  child  itself,  it  is  always  helpful  to  get  from  him  or 
her  a  statement  of  the  reasons  for  being  brought  to  court. 
It  is  the  direct  and  natural  method  of  approach. 

In  getting  the  second  group  of  facts  —  the  social  his- 
tory —  inquiry  should  be  made  of  the  child  in  every  case. 
The  investigator  should  take  particular  pains  to  make  this 
inquiry  as  informal  as  possible.  There  should  not  be  a 
show  of  asking  set  questions  and  writing  down  answers. 
The  child  should  be  interviewed  outside  the  hearing  of 
any  other  person.  He  should  be  put  at  ease,  and  the 
questions  asked  in  a  pleasant,  easy  conversational  man- 
ner, the  investigator  (though  not  too  apparently)  making 
his  notes  on  the  blanks  provided.  It  is  much  better  if 

34 


Organization  and  Procedure 

the  investigator  trains  himself  to  recording  the  facts  from 
memory  after  the  interview  is  concluded,  writing  down 
nothing  at  all  in  the  presence  of  the  child.  Often  in  the 
press  of  business,  these  inquiries  of  the  child  become 
merely  mechanical  formalities.  The  investigator  in  a 
search  for  facts  forgets  the  human  side  of  his  service. 
The  influence  on  a  child's  mind  of  this  first  inquiry  is 
likely  to  be  very  great,  and  attention  must  be  given  con- 
stantly to  the  educative  power  of  sympathy  and  friendli- 
ness. 

The  following  schedule  indicates  the  information  which 
should  be  secured  about  any  delinquent  child.  In  the 
case  of  neglected  children,  the  family  is,  of  course,  the 
chief  consideration,  and  the  questions  relating  to  the  so- 
called  "  individual  record  "  of  the  child  may  ordinarily  be 
omitted.  In  securing  information  about  any  child,  neg- 
lected or  delinquent,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
family,  not  the  child,  is  usually  the  unit  with  which  the 
court  is  dealing. 


SCHEDULE   OF    INFORMATION 
•   Q 

Race,  country  of  birth  of  the  child,  and  of  the  father  and 
mother. 

Names  of  each  member  of  the  immediate  family,  with 
their  addresses,  age,  occupation,  wages,  religion,  record  of 
insanity  or  feeble-mindedness  in  the  family;  and  court  or 
charity  records,  if  any. 

Description  of  the  home  and  neighborhood,  showing  the 
type  of  dwelling,  the  floor,  number  of  rooms,  rent  per 
month,  number  of  persons  in  the  household,  including 
lodgers  or  boarders. 

Sanitary  and  mojral  condition  in  both  home  and  neighbor- 

35 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

hood.  To  this  should  be  added  previous  addresses  and 
length  of  residence  in  each  neighborhood. 

In  the  case  of  delinquent  children,  there  should  follow  a 
study  of  the  record  of  the  child  in  other  connections,  namely : 
his  school,  employment,  church,  playground,  or  club  connec- 
tions; his  habits,  interests  and  abilities,  and  physical  and 
mental  condition. 

In  the  school  record  should  be  given  the  name  of  each 
school  attended,  with  the  dates  of  attendance,  record  of  con- 
duct and  scholarship. 

Under  employment,  all  employers'  names  and  addresses, 
the  date  of  employment,  the  kind  of  work  and  the  weekly 
wage. 

His  connection  with  other  institutions  like  church,  clubs 
or  playgrounds  should  be  given,  the  name  of  each,  with  the 
teacher  or  leader,  and  any  remarks  about  his  character  and 
habits  as  revealed  to  these  teachers  or  leaders. 

The  record  of  his  habits,  associates  and  interests  should 
show  what  friends  he  has,  what  are  his  amusements,  where 
he  spends  his  evenings,  school  vacations,  Sundays ;  what 
are  his  special  interests  and  habits  (including  the  use  of 
tobacco  or  liquor). 

Physical  and  mental  condition  should  show,  first,  any 
family  record  of  epilepsy,  feeble-mindedness,  insanity  or 
alcoholism,  then  the  general  health  of  the  child,  any  phys- 
ical defects,  diseases  from  which  he  has  suffered  or  is  suf- 
fering, and  the  mental  condition,  with  a  statement  of  such 
traits  as  would  be  indicated  in  the  words :  secretive,  social, 
selfish,  irritable,  self -controlled,  lazy,  vain,  conscientious, 
easily-influenced. 

Of  course,  there  should  be  added  any  previous  record  of 
the  child  or  family  in  the  hands  of  any  society  or  public 
agency.  Sources  of  information  should  be  shown  in  detail. 

36 


Organization  and  Procedure 

SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION 

The  investigator  should  always  be  encouraged,  of 
course,  to  press  beyond  the  essential  facts  for  fuller  de- 
tails. In  difficult  cases  the  field  is  almost  limitless. 

The  sources  of  information  of  the  above  facts  should 
include  at  least:  first,  the  interview  with  the  child, 
second,  an  interview  with  the  child's  immediate  relatives, 
and,  third,  an  examination  of  the  home  itself.  In  many 
cases,  it  is  helpful  to  talk  with  present  or  former  neigh- 
bors, and  especially  the  family  physician.  In  all  cases, 
except  those  of  very  little  children,  the  school  record 
should  be  secured  direct  from  the  school.  In  cases  where 
there  is  disagreement  in  the  family,  relatives  on  both  the 
father's  and  mother's  side  should  be  interviewed.  Where 
the  family  has  moved  within  recent  years,  former  neigh- 
bors may  shed  light  on  involved  situations.  Whenever 
there  is  any  serious  conflict  in  testimony,  every  possible 
source  which  may  check  up  the  statements  made,  should 
be  consulted.  In  some  cases  two  or  three  sources  of  in- 
formation are  sufficient  —  in  others,  thirty  are  not 
enough. 

A  word  of  warning  about  investigations  among  neigh- 
bors is  necessary.  All  investigators  at  one  time  or  an- 
other experience  the  unpleasant  results  of  a  too  free  in- 


quiry about  a  family  among  their  neighbors  —  the  gossijK^/^   ^ 
sometimes  hostility  and  infrequently  the  ostracism  which 
come  with  the  reputation  of  a  family's  being  in  trouble   j^** 
at  court.     When  neighbors  must  be  questioned,  the  pro-  '' 
bation  officer  may  often  protect  the  family  position  by  not 
revealing  his  or  her  identity. 

37 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

SCHOOL   INVESTIGATION 

The  character  of  the  school  investigation  depends  on 
the  nature  of  the  case.  In  those  cases  where  the  school 
record  is  shown  to  be  satisfactory  on  a  statement  of  child 
and  parents,  a  telephone  verification  answers  all  require- 
ments. In  cases  where  the  school  record  is  a  leading 
index  to  the  child's  character  and  habits,  it  may  well  be 
the  most  important  portion  of  the  investigation  —  in- 
volving visits  to  several  schools  and  talks  with  many 
teachers.  Much  depends  on  the  way  in  which  the  school 
investigation  is  made.  A  probation  officer  should  never 
inquire  about  a  child  in  the  presence  of  other  children. 
Information  can  be  secured  quietly  by  questioning  the 
teacher  outside  of  the  school  room.  It  is  well  to  con- 
sult not  only  the  teacher  who  has  the  child  at  the  time  of 
the  court  hearing,  but  also  others  who  had  him  previously. 
Some  teachers  are  not  helpful  in  their  relation  to  children 
in  whom  the  court  is  interested,  because  of  lack  of  sym- 
pathy with  "  odd "  children,  or  impatience  with  dis- 
obedience. Principals  or  probation  officers  can  do  much 
often  to  educate  such  teachers  to  a  more  sympathetic  view- 
point. 

SUMMARY 

An  investigation,  to  be  entitled  to  its  name,  should 
include,  first,  an  interview  with  the  child,  and,  second,  a 
visit  to  his  home,  including  an  interview  with  his  im- 
mediate relatives.  This  is  certainly  the  minimum  stand- 
ard. To  it  should  ordinarily  be  added  the  investigation 
of  the  school  record;  of  the  employment  record  in  the 

38 


Organization  and  Procedure 

_S  ' 

cases  of  older  boys  or  girls,  and  of  church  or  neighbor- 
hood associations.  Such  investigations,  involving  as  they 
do  a  number  of  sources,  are  most  conveniently  made  by 
filling  out  and  supplementing  the  blank  forms  in  pencil,  in 
order  that  corrections  and  erasures  can  be  easily  made. 
The  corrected  investigation  is  then  typewritten  (or  writ- 
ten in  ink)  by  the  clerk  or  stenographer. 

USE   OF  DETENTION  IN   INVESTIGATIONS- 

In  some  cases  it  is  difficult  to  get  all  the  necessary  facts 
through  an  interview  with  the  child,  and  investigations 
at  home,  school  and  elsewhere.  There  are  children  with 
peculiar  personal  characteristics,  which  are  difficult  of 
determination,  and  which  may  have  a  direct  relation  to 
their  delinquency.  In  such  cases,  it  is  often  desirable  to 
keep  the  child  in  detention  a  number  of  days  for  ob- 
servation. Where  houses  of  detention  are  so  arranged 
that  they  can  care  for  children  conveniently  for  a  num- 
ber of  days  under  the  eye  of  an  expert  teacher  or  director, 
they  can  perform  a  great  service  in  these  occasional  baf- 
fling cases. 

MEDICAL   AND   PHYSICAL   EXAMINATIONS 

Many  court  investigations  include  a  medical  and  phys- 
ical examination.  These  examinations  usually  cover  gen- 
eral physical  conditions,  nourishment,  disease,  defects  of 
the  body  and  especially  of  the  eye,  nose,  throat,  ear  or 
teeth,  and  in  the  case  of  older  girls,  the  presence  or  lack 
of  venereal  diseases.  These  examinations  have  as  their 
chief  purpose  to  discover  and  to  correct  in  the  individual 
child  physical  defects.  In  certain  cases  they  may  also 

39 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

""  furnish  scientific  data  in  the  study  of  degeneracy  and  de- 
linquency. Wherever  children  are  reached  by  thorough, 
medical  examinations  in  the  schools,  the  school  records 
can  well  be  used.  In  many  cases,  however,  it  is  at  once 
apparent  to  the  probation  officer,  investigator  or  the  judge, 
that  a  case  has  either  escaped  the  attention  of  the  school 
authorities,  or  the  points  desired  by  the  court  have  not 
been  covered  by  the  school  examination.  Few  school 
medical  examinations  are  as  yet  thorough  enough  to  fur- 
nish all  the  information  desired  for  court  use  in  excep- 
tional cases. 

In  the  case  of  girls  about  whose  morality  there  is  a 
question,  the  examination  for  the  presence  of  venereal 
disease  is  usually  advisable,  a  thorough  examination  being 
made,  of  course,  in  every  case  by  a  woman  physician. 

A  probation  officer  should  be  trained  to  detect  the  com- 
moner types  of  physical  defects,  and  to  recognize  when  a 
child  is  in  need  of  further  examination  by  a  physician  or 
specialist.  In  very  large  cities,  where  the  court  deals 
with  a  great  many  children,  arrangements  are  usually 
made  to  use  a  special  clinic  equipped  for  all  superficial 
tests  with  a  physician  in  attendance  at  regular  hours  each 
day.  This  method  can  be  followed  only  in  large  cities. 
Other  provision  must  be  made  in  smaller  communities. 

Any  one  of  the  following  plans  can  be  followed :  first, 
to  have  a  physician  call  regularly  at  the  court  or  deten- 
tion home  daily;  second,  to  refer  the  children  to  private 
dispensaries  or  clinics;  third,  to  send  them  to  the  offices 
of  physicians  who  volunteer  to  do  this  work  for  the 
court.  In  very  small  communities,  or  rural  districts,  the 
latter  method,  of  course,  is  the  most  practicable. 

40 


Organization  and  Procedure 

A  probation  officer  can  soon  be  trained  to  know  whether 
a  child  is  well  nourished  or  poorly  nourished,  whether  it 
is  suffering  from  any  acute  or  infectious  disease,  or 
whether  there  is  any  well-defined  throat  or  nose  trouble. 
Defects  of  sight  or  hearing  would  probably  be  brought  to 
light  by  the  school  inquiry. 

But  it  must  be  emphasized  that  only  careful  training 
equips  a  probation  officer  to. make  use  of  specialists  at 
the  right  time  and  on  the  right  children.  Case  after  case 
could  be  cited  where  children  have  been  retained  on  pro- 
bation with  little  or  no  improvement  when  recourse  to  a 
specialist  would  have  advised  a  definite  and  unmistakable 
course  of  action. 

THE    PSYCHOPATHIC    CLINIC 

The  so-called  "  psychopathic  clinic  "  has  aroused  much 
interest  in  the  last  few  years,  especially  in  its  relation  to 
the  more  difficult  cases  of  children  with  whom  the  juvenile 
courts  in  large  cities  deal. 

The  name  "  psychopathic  clinic  "  is  perhaps  misleading 
or  confusing.  What  it  really  means  is  a  clinic  in  which 
the  exceptional  child  is  thoroughly  studied  from  several 
view-points  —  physical,  mental,  environmental.  In  the 
clinic  an  exhaustive  study  is  made  of  the  peculiar  or 
baffling  cases.  It  is  not  a  place  for  comparatively  normal 
children. 

While  all  factors  entering  into  a  child's  life  are  con- 
sidered in  these  examinations,  the  study  is  mainly  de- 
voted to  the  child's  mental  activities  and  emotional  states. 
It  aims  to  discover  the  factors  which  determine  his  char- 
acter and  guide  his  actions.  Much  delinquency  arises 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

from  emotional  states  of  mind  which  have  at  the  base 
early  experiences  in  life.  These  causes  must  be  dis- 
covered in  order  to  effect  a  cure.  Problematic  individuals 
of  this  kind  are  much  more  frequently  met  with  in 
juvenile  courts  than  has  been  supposed;  many  of  them 
have  to  be  carefully  observed  over  a  long  period  of  time, 
if  they  are  to  be  brought  back  to  healthful  activity  of 
mind. 

Such  studies,  of  course,  must  be  in  charge  of  physicians 
specially  Drained  for  this  work.  In  view  of  the  expense 
involved,  psychopathic  clinics  are  possible  at  present  only 
in  the  large  cities.  The  future  will  doubtless  see  such 
clinics  established  in  all  public  school  systems  throughout 
the  country  as  part  of  the  growing  work  of  the  schools 
with  exceptional  children.  In  most  communities  it  is 
probably  impracticable  for  the  juvenile  court  to  maintain 
such  a  clinic,  but  it  is  not  too  early  for  juvenile  court 
workers  to  urge  its  establishment  by  the  school  authori- 
ties, or,  where  that  is  impossible,  as  a  department  of  the 
public  health  service  of  the  city. 

STANDARDIZING   INVESTIGATIONS 

Investigations  in  juvenile  courts  vary  greatly.  They 
are  made  either  by  the  probation  officers  —  paid  or  volun- 
tary—  by  the  agents  of  children's  societies,  by  truant 
officers,  or  —  in  rare  cases  —  by  the  police. 

It  is  a  prime  requisite  that  the  court  investigations 
should  be  uniform.  One  case  should  not  be  well  prepared 
and  the  next  poorly  prepared.  The  same  kind  of  in- 
formation and  the  same  methods  in  gathering  it  should 
be  employed  throughout.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to 

42 


p 

o 

o 


O 
o 


Organization  and  Procedure 

secure  good  investigations  through  a  number  of  different 
agencies.  If  the  truant  officers  are  allowed  to  present 
their  facts  in  their  own  way  without  verification ;  if  the 
police  are  allowed  to  follow  their  own  methods,  and  if 
children's  societies  and  charity  organization  societies  do 
likewise,  the  children  coming  before  the  court  will  be 
variously  and  diversely  served,  and  all  will  not  get  the 
benefit  of  equally  efficient  treatment. 

The  court  which  employs  paid  probation  officers,  should 
hold  the  probation  force  wholly  responsible  for  the  char- 
acter of  investigations  made.  In  cases  where  the  proba- 
tion officer  knows  and  approves  the  methods  of  the  charity  ' 
organization  society,  for  instance,  he  may  need  only  to 
check  up  the  information  which  that  society  presents  in  a 
given  case,  by  an  interview  with  the  child  and  relatives. 
In  every  case,  however,  the  probation  officer  of  the  court 
should  review  all  investigations  that  are  presented  to  him, 
seeing  to  it  that  the  information  which  the  court  requires 
is  given;  that  it  has  been  gathered  accurately  and  care- 
fully, and  that  the  uniformity  of  the  court's  work  in  in- 
vestigations is  maintained. 

The  business  of  investigation  is  one  of  the  weakest 
points  in  most  of  our  juvenile  courts.  There  are  few 
courts  where  investigations  are  systematic,  uniform  and 
impartial.  Cases  are  often  rushed  through  and  the  facts 
learned  afterwards.  It  is  better  to  keep  a  child  in  deten- 
tion a  few  days  and  to  continue  the  case,  if  by  that 
method  a  painstaking  investigation  takes  the  place  of  a 
hasty,  slipshod  inquiry. 


45 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

THE    INVESTIGATING    OFFICER 

The  work  of  investigation  by  the  probation  force  of  a 
court  is  in  some  cities  carried  on  by  one  or  two  officers 
who  do  nothing  else,  while  in  other  cities  all  the  regular 
officers  do  the  investigating  of  new  cases  for  court  as 
well  as  supervise  their  wards  on  probation.  The  method 
followed  depends  upon  the  organization  of  probation 
work  in  any  given  court.  In  the  few  very  large  cities, 
or  in  counties,  distances  necessitate  dividing  the  city  or 
county  into  districts,  to  each  of  which  one  or  more  pro- 
bation officers  is  assigned.  The  work  of  investigation 
is,  therefore,  undertaken  by  the  district  officer,  who  also 
has  the  supervision  of  cases  on  probation  or  parole.  In 
most  cities,  where  distances  are  not  so  great,  and  the 
probation  force  is  comparatively  small,  it  is  customary 
to  assign  children  to  officers  according  to  the  natural 
groups  of  children  to  be  cared  for  —  neglected  children, 
for  instance,  to  the  women  officers;  the  larger  boys  to 
men  officers;  the  smaller  boys  and  girls  to  women;  col- 
ored children,  or  children  of  any  non-English  speaking 
nationality  (where  their  numbers  are  large)  to  officers 
of  the  same  race  or  nationality. 

Under  such  a  system  of  assignment  where  the  officer 
is  doing  work  with  a  group  of  individuals  rather  than 
in  a  district,  the  business  of  investigations  is  separated 
from  that  of  looking  after  children  on  probation  or 
parole.  Under  this  plan  it  would  seem  desirable  to  have 
one  officer  in  charge  of  investigations,  with  at  least  one 
or  two  part-time  assistants,  particularly  a  woman  for  the 
girls'  cases.  This  specialization  of  work  is  not  only  an 

46 


Organization  and  Procedure 

economy  of  time,  but  actually  results  in  better  work. 
Good  investigators  are  often  not  at  their  best  in  looking 
after  children  on  probation.  The  investigating  habit  of 
mind  —  that  is,  the  getting  of  facts,  putting  them  to- 
gether and  giving  the  court  a  complete  picture  of  a  case 
—  does  not  adapt  itself  easily  to  the  supervision  and 
handling  of  children  on  probation. 

Good  investigation  requires  doubtless  even  higher 
faculties  of  perception,  keener  judgment,  as  thorough 
training  and  as  extensive  sympathies  as  working  out  the 
problems  of  probation.  On  the  investigator  depends 
largely  the  judgment  of  the  court,  the  assignment  on 
probation,  and  the  beginning  of  the  probationary  treat- 
ment. 

This  preliminary  investigation  for  the  court  is,  of 
course,  not  so  thorough  or  painstaking  an  examination 
as  a  probation  officer  must  make  in  beginning  probation- 
ary treatment.  The  court's  judgment  is  based  upon  the 
large  outstanding  facts,  not  upon  the  details.  The  court 
has  only  three  major  alternatives  —  commitment  to  an 
institution,  probation  or  discharge.  To  arrive  at  such 
a  decision,  the  lengthy,  searching  inquiry  which  begins 
probationary  treatment,  is  unnecessary.  Therefore,  the 
specialization  of  this  type  of  investigations  in  the  hands 
of  special  investigators,  who  are  not  dealing  with  children 
on  probation,  is  practicable  and  desirable.  It  is  also  a 
distinct  economy  in  the  organization  of  the  court's  work, 
for  it  keeps  officers  dealing  with  children  on  probation, 
free  from  the  interruptions  attendant  upon  investiga- 
tions and  consequent  attendance  at  court.  It  also  re- 
lieves the  regular  officers  of  the  investigation  of  the  great 

47 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

proportion  of  cases,  which  are  dismissed  by  the  court, 
and  which  would  therefore  never  come  into  their  hands 
for  probationary  treatment. 

THE    PRESENTATION    OF    INVESTIGATIONS    IN    COURT 

In  practically  all  juvenile  courts  where  there  are  sev- 
eral probation  officers,  the  chief  probation  officer  is  pres- 
ent at  all  hearings,  although  he  usually  has  not  made  the 
investigations.  However,  he  must  be  familiar  with  the 
cases  which  are  coming  before  the  judge,  and,  therefore, 
has  to  review  the  facts  gathered  by  the  investigating 
officer.  In  many  courts  the  investigations  are  presented 
to  the  judge  in  a  most  unsystematic  way.  The  investi- 
gating officer  often  tells  the  story  from  a  few  pencil 
notes,  which  do  not  form  a  complete  or  permanent 
record. 

All  investigations  should  be  presented  through  type- 
written statements  on  clear,  simple  forms.  Such  state- 
ments can  be  easily  reviewed  by  the  probation  officer  be- 
fore the  hearing,  and  presented  to  the  judge  for  his 
perusal  as  the  cases  come  up.  Lengthy,  wordy  explana- 
tions are  thus  avoided  and  the  court  has  a  uniform  and 
permanent  record. 

Another  objection  to  presenting  investigations  orally 
is,  that  all  the  facts  cannot  be  impartially  stated,  nor  a 
well-balanced  picture  drawn  from  memory.  Probation 
officers,,  as  a  rule,  fail  to  distinguish  between  facts  and 
conclusions.  A  large  portion  of  the  evidence  given  by 
probation  officers  in  juvenile  courts  is  a  mass  of  opinions 
and  conclusions.  The  only  way  to  avoid  testimony  so 
manifestly  unfair  and  absolutely  valueless,  is  to  secure 

48 


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Organization  and  Procedure 

the  full  facts  in  advance  as  accurately  as  possible  and 
put  them  in  writing. 

For  an  intelligent  understanding  of  any  case,  the  judge 
should  secure,  first,  the  usual  legal  papers,  including  the 
probation  officer's  investigation  of  the  child  and  its  home. 
Before  any  other  evidence  is  secured  an  opportunity 
should  be  given  to  the  child  to  tell  its  story  to  the  judge. ' 
In  many  cases  where  this  is  done,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
hear  any  witnesses.     The  important  thing  in  the  hearing    . 
is  to  get  the  truth  from  the  child.    A  sympathetic  judge 
is  more  likely  to  succeed  by  gaining  the  confidence  of  the 
child  before  hearing  from  police  or  truant  officer  or  other  * 
witnesses.     Where  this  process  is  reversed  and  the  child  is 
heard  after  an  array  of  witnesses  have  testified,  it  is  not 
surprising    that    he    takes   refuge    in    evasions.     Fail- 
ing with  the  child,  there  is  no  course  left  to  the  judge 
but  to  confront  the  child  with  the  witnesses  in  the  hear-  . 
ing. 

Many  cases  are  disposed  of  in  juvenile  courts  without 
the  presence  of  the  parents  of  the  child  —  a  practice  to 
be  avoided.  Oftentimes  dispositions  are  made  in  the 
cases  of  neglected  children  when  the  children  themselves 
are  not  in  court.  This  is  wholly  wrong;  it  inevitably  re- 
sults in  laxity,  error  and  confusion,  and  is  open  to  very 
serious  legal  objections. 

RECORDING  VERBAL   TESTIMONY 

Much  telling  and  valuable  information  often  conies 
out  in  court  in  the  verbal  testimony  of  witnesses.  Facts 
of  primary  importance  sometimes  escape  an  investigator. 
The  hearing  with  the  witnesses,  relatives  and  complain- 

51 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

ants  all  grouped  around  the  judge,  often  brings  out  facts 
which  could  not  be  otherwise  secured.  This  being  so,  it 
is  often  argued  that  a  court  stenographer  should  be 
present  in  every  case  to  take  the  testimony.  In  many 
courts  this  would  be  an  unnecessary  expense,  because  by 
far  the  largest  portion  of  the  testimony  is  of  compara- 
tively little  consequence.  The  important  information 
which  comes  out  at  a  hearing  can  be  easily  noted  by  the 
chief  probation  officer  and  transcribed  later  as  part  of 
the  investigation.  In  special  and  involved  cases  a  stenog- 
rapher may  be  necessary. 

THE   INVESTIGATOR    IN    COURT 

There  is  some  question  as  to  whether  the  officer  who 
investigates  the  cases  should  be  present  at  all  hearings  — 
especially  in  large  cities,  where  court  hearings  take  much 
time  every  day.  It  is  contended  that  an  investigator 
who  collects  the  facts,  if  such  facts  are  thoroughly  and 
accurately  recorded,  can  add  very  little  orally,  except  in 
controversial  cases.  The  safest  method  is  to  have  the 
investigating  officer  present  during  the  hearing  of  the 
cases,  if  his  time  will  permit.  Under  the  district  system, 
the  investigator,  of  course,  is  always  in  court  at  the  hear- 
ing of  the  cases  which  he  or  she  has  investigated.  The 
best  interests  of  the  child  make  it  necessary  for  the  court 
to  consider  hearsay  and  other  evidence  of  a  more  or  less 
informal  kind  which  would  ordinarily  under  strict  rules 
of  evidence  be  excluded.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  the  court  should  avail  itself  of  just  the  kind  of  evi- 
dence that  the  investigator  presents.  If  it  should  finally 
be  determined  that  the  laws  as  drawn  do  not  permit  the 

52 


Organization  and  Procedure 

introduction  of  such  evidence,  express  provision  should 
be  inserted  in  the  statutes  allowing  its  use. 

SECTION  4.     THE  COURT  ROOM  AND  COURT 
PROCEDURE 
PUBLICITY 

The  hearings  in  most  cases  are  held  in  the  court-house 
and  are  open  to  the  public.  An  effort  should  be  made 
to  conduct  the  hearings  in  such  a  way  as  not  unneces- 
sarily to  advertise  the  misfortunes  of  children. 

All  merely  curious  spectators  should  be  barred  from    '  • 
the  court  room.     Only  persons  involved  in  the  cases  to. 
be  heard,  or  wlw  have  other  business  with  the  court 
should  be  permitted.     This  restriction,  of  course,  does*  % 
not  exclude  visitors  interested  in  the  court's  work.     One 
child  should  not  be  permitted  to  hear  the  story  of  another.  3 
The  judge's  desk  should  be  so  located  as  to  prevent  a 
child's  story  from  being  heard  by  any  others  than  those 
directly  involved.     Newspaper  reporters  should  not  have  *-'• 
easy  access  to  the  stories  of  children.     Many  courts  have 
done  away  entirely  with  newspaper  reporting  of  cases 
before  the  juvenile  court,  except  at  the  direction  of  the 
judge.     Managing  editors  of  newspapers,  when  their  at- 
tention has  been  called  to  the  evils  which  result  from 
publicity  of  children's  troubles  have  willingly  withdrawn 
their  reporters  from  the  juvenile  court.  ^«/  yj^j^ 

ARRANGEMENT    AND    APPEARANCE    OF    COURT    ROOM 

.- 

Whether  the  juvenile  court  is  held  in  a  large  open 
court  room,  or  in  small  chambers,   the  ordinary  trap-^ 
pings    of    a  court    room    should    be    discarded.     The 

53 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

judge's  desk  should  be  so  arranged  that  the  child's  head 
will  be  on  a  level  with  the  judge's,  and  close  by  him. 
All  other  benches  and  chairs  should  be  at  some  distance 
from  the  judge's  bench  in  a  large  court  room.  So  far 
as  possible,  uniformed  officers  should  be  dispensed  with. 
The  clerk  or  the  sheriff  should  not  occupy  the  con- 
spicuous positions  which  they  do  in  the  ordinary  court 
room,  because  their  services  in  a  juvenile  court  are  com- 
paratively unimportant. 

TYPES    OF    COURT    ROOMS 

There  are  two  fairly  distinct  types  of  juvenile  court 
rooms  in  use  —  one  to  which  the  public,  or  at  least  that 
portion  of  the  public  which  has  business  with  the  court, 
is  admitted  freely  —  and  the  other,  the  private  cham- 
bers in  which  the  judge  hears  a  case  in  the  presence  of 
only  those  persons  directly  concerned.  There  are,  of 
course,  variations  of  these  types.  In  some  courts  the 
waiting  room  is  distinct  from  the  court  room  —  in 
others,  the  court  room  is  so  small  as  to  admit  very  few 
persons  other  than  those  concerned  in  a  given  case. 

Whatever  the  type,  it  is  essential  that  the  hearing 
should  be  as  informal  and  as  private  between  the  court, 
^  the  child,  and  those  immediately  interested,  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  make  it.  Unnecessary  publicity  of  every  kind 
should  be  avoided,  so  that  the  child  may  see  that  his 
misfortunes  are  matters  between  the  court  and  his 
family  and  not  for  the  public  ear.  Every  court  room 
should  be  arranged  to  avoid  over-crowding,  congestion, 
disorder  or  noise. 

Whatever  type  of  court  room  is  used,  the  parents  of 

54 


New  Building  for  the  Children's  Court,  New  York  City 


o    PLAN    OF  COURJT    ROOM   FLOOR-   ^ 

CILOW    •    LEWIS      fc/WICK-tNHOfcFER-,      -     AR^CHtTtCTi 


Organization  and  Procedure 

a  child  should  be  present  during  the  child's  hearing.  In 
a  few  rare  cases  the  judge  may  be  compelled  to  ques- 
tion the  child  alone  in  order  to  get  at  essential  facts. 
In  such  special  cases,  the  judge  and  officials  of  each 
court  should  work  out  a  method  of  hearing  that  will 
secure  the  desired  result,  and  at  the  same  time  not  sub- 
ject the  court  to  the  criticism  of  holding  star-chamber 
sessions.  The  support  and  confidence  of  the  community 
may  easily  be  sacrificed  by  the  appearance  of  secrecy  in 
public  business.  Many  of  the  advantages  of  hearings  in 
chambers  may  be  secured  in  an  open  court  room,  prop- 
erly arranged. 

ARRANGEMENT   OF    PROBATION   OFFICES 

The  close  relation  of  the  probation  offices  to  all  the 
court's  work  requires  that  these  offices  should  be  as  near 
the  court  room  as  possible.  To  the  probation  office 
come  parents,  complainants  and  children  when  the  court 
is  not  in  session.  The  probation  office  keeps  the  records 
which  are  of  chief  value  to  the  court.  It  is  much  more 
necessary  that  the  probation  office  and  the  court  should 
be  close  together  than  that  the  probation  office  or  the 
court  should  be  close  to  the  detention  home. 

The  probation  office  should  be  arranged  to  give  the 
probation  officers  who  interview  children  or  parents  en~ 
tire  privacy.  The  chief  probation  officer  should  have  a 
private  office.  Clerks  and  stenographers  should  be  so 
placed  as  not  to  be  constantly  interrupted  by  callers  and 
telephones.  One  person  should  be  assigned  to  meet 
callers  and  answer  telephones  wherever  the  volume  of 
business  is  great.  The  telephones  and  record-room  are 

57 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

both  used  frequently,  and  all  persons  in  the  office  should 
be  easily  accessible  to  them.  In  well-established  courts, 
it  is  surprising  to  find  probation  offices  still  awkwardly 
arranged,  when  a  little  study  in  arrangement  would  save 
the  time  and  wasted  energy  of  many  persons. 

FREQUENCY    OF    HEARINGS 

A  serious  evil  in  many  juvenile  courts  is  the  in  fre- 
quency of  hearings,  as  a  result  of  which  children  must 
at  times  be  held  in  detention  several  days,  sometimes  a 
.  week  or  more.  Justice  to  children  and  their  parents  de- 
mands that,  even  in  courts  where  the  volume  of  business 
is  light,  there  should  be  daily  hearings,  or  hearings  at 
least  every  other  day.  Where  a  separate  judge  pre- 
sides over  the  juvenile  court,  or  where  one  judge  is  as- 
signed to  the  juvenile  court  for  his  entire  time  for  a 
definite  period,  daily  hearings  should,  of  course,  be  held. 
An  hour  or  two  hearing  each  day  of  the  week  is  much 
more  just  and  satisfactory  to  children,  parents,  and  pro- 
bation officers  than  a  six  hour  hearing  one  day  a  week, 
or  a  three  hour  hearing  three  days  a  week. 

It  is  also  essential  that  the  hearings  should  be  regu- 
larly held  on  fixed  days.  In  some  courts  it  is  the  custom 
not  to  have  hearings  on  fixed  days,  but  only  on  such 
days  as  the  judge  happens  to  fix  them.  In  every  court 
regular  days  should  be  set  and  rigidly  adhered  to,  except 
for  extraordinary  reasons. 

LENGTH    OF    HEARINGS 

Frequent  hearings  make  it  possible  for  the  judge  to 
give  a  longer  time  and  more  careful  attention  to 

58 


Organization  and  Procedure 

each  child.  Many  judges  take  much  too  short  a  time 
to  hear  a  case.  Records  show  that  some  courts  dispose 
of  fifty  to  sixty  cases  in  a  three  hour  hearing.  Some 
courts  devote  an  average  of  less  than  five  minutes  to 
a  case.  It  is  evident  that  such  hearings  are  more  or 
less  perfunctory  and  inadequate.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  an  evil  in  unnecessarily  protracted  hearings. 
Some  judges  spend  an  hour  on  a  simple  case  which  might 
better  be  disposed  of  in  five  or  ten  minutes.  This  is 
usually  due  not  to  difficulty  in  getting  facts  but  to  the 
desire  of  some  judges  to  preach  a  sermon.  However 
valuable  such  an  "  address  from  the  bench  "  may  be,  it 
is  certainly  a  questionable  practice  if  it  keeps  other  chil- 
dren and  their  parents  waiting  for  a  hearing.  And 
there  is  much  doubt  as  to  the  value  of  such  lessons  at 
the  time  of  hearing.  Most  experienced  judges  state  that 
it  is  more  helpful  to  draw  out  the  child  and  get  him  to 
talk  than  to  do  much  talking  themselves. 

KEEPING    MINOR    CASES    OUT    OF    COURT 

There  are  probably  very  few  courts  in  which  it  would 
not  be  possible  and  desirable  to  prevent  a  considerable 
percentage  of  cases  from  coming  before  the  judge  at 
all  —  cases  which  are  too  trivial  for  judicial  action. 
Many  courts  hear  such  cases  only  because  no  system  of 
taking  care  of  them  otherwise  has  been  worked  out.  In 
courts  where  the  chief  probation  officer  can  exercise  dis- 
cretion in  filing  complaints,  he  should  strive  to  prevent 
trivial  complaints  being  filed.  Truant  officers,  police 
officers  and  others  can  also  settle  many  trivial  cases  with- 
out recourse  to  court. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

In  one  court,  for  instance,  the  record  of  several  years 
shows  that  of  some  eighteen  hundred  arrests  of  children 
each  year  only  twelve  hundred,  or  two-thirds,  go  to  the 
juvenile  court.  The  remaining  six  hundred  have  been 
settled  by  the  police  at  the  various  police  stations.  This 
means  either  that  the  police  have  found  the  complaint 
trivial  and  have  permitted  the  child  to  go  with  a 
reprimand,  or  that  the  prosecuting  witness,  after  talk- 
ing the  matter  over  with  the  police  has  dropped  the  case, 
or  that  the  police  have  called  in  the  child's  parents  and 
have  released  him  to  them. 

A  well-organized  police  force  can  be  of  inestimable 
help  in  dealing  with  minor  delinquencies  through  the 
different  police  stations,  but  the  juvenile  court  should 
keep  in  close  touch  with  the  relation  of  the  police  to 
these  delinquencies  in  order  to  make  sure  that  the  treat- 
ment the  police  give  is  really  effective  and  fair. 

In  the  cases  of  children  the  police  need  to  see  that  the 
real  reason  for  holding  a  child  for  the  court,  even  when 
the  offense  is  trivial,  is  to  be  found  in  the  social  factors 
in  the  child's  life  —  in  his  home  and  in  his  companions. 
The  police  need  to  be  constantly  educated  to  the  idea  that 
no  child  who  comes  under  their  jurisdiction  should  be 
released  when  he  is  growing  up  under  bad  influences. 
He  should  be  given  the  benefit  of  the  court's  discipline 
and  protection.  On  the  other  hand,  children  should  not 
be  sent  to  court  for  minor  delinquencies  when  their 
homes  and  surroundings  are  good.  Nothing  the  court 
can  do  will  help  them.  The  police  should  keep  records 
of  all  cases  unofficially  disposed  of  for  future  reference. 
Where  the  methods  of  the  police  department  permit,  a 

60 


Organization  and  Procedure 

copy  of  this  record  should  be  forwarded  to  the  juvenile 
court  for  filing.  This  may  be  valuable  if  the  same  chil- 
dren come  into  court  at  a  later  day. 

No  case  in  which  a  formal  legal  complaint  has  been 
filed,  should,  of  course,  be  kept  out  of  court  or  heard  by 
any  one  other  than  the  judge. 

SEGREGATION   OF   CASES 

In  many  courts  a  distinction  is  made  in  the  kind  of 
cases  heard  on  a  given  day.  On  one  day  the  cases  of 
neglected  children  will  be  heard;  on  another,  truancy 
cases,  paroles  from  institutions,  changes  of  custody,  etc. 

Cases  of  adults  (whether  parents  or  strangers)  com- 
plained of  for  contributing  to  children's  delinquency  are 
virtually  criminal  cases,  usually  requiring  the  attendance 
of  more  witnesses  than  the  children's  cases  and  a  more 
formal  examination  of  the  witnesses  and,  indeed,  greater 
formality  throughout  the  proceedings  and  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  court  room,  and  sometimes  involving  men 
being  brought  into  the  court  or  taken  out  of  it  hand- 
cuffed or  at  least  in  the  custody  of  officers.  Therefore, 
the  cases  of  adults  should  be  heard  at  a  time  separated 
from  the  time  at  which  children's  cases  are  heard  by 
an  interval  long  enough  to  insure  the  absence  from  the 
court  or  its  neighborhood  of  all  children  except  those 
needed  as  witnesses  in  the  adults'  cases.  The  cases  of 
many  neglected  children  are  in  essence  so  similar  to  the 
cases  of  adult  contributors  that  they  should  be  heard  at 
the  adult  session.  Certain  serious  cases  should  also  be 
heard  separately,  those  involving  gross  immorality  be- 
ing heard  in  chambers,  if  possible. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Within  reasonable  limits  it  is  also  desirable  that  in 
the  court  room  there  shall  be  such  supervision  as  will 
prevent  close  contact  between  young  and  older  children, 
and  boys  and  girls.  Many  cases  of  widows'  pensions  and 
of  purely  dependent  children  (if  the  laws  make  the  mis- 
take of  assigning  them  to  the  juvenile  court  at  all)  should 
have  a  separate  session.  In  many  courts  further  classi- 
fication is  made,  e.g.,  by  assigning  truancy  cases  for  a 
separate  day,  etc.  The  value  of  such  further  classifica- 
tion depends  very  largely  on  local  conditions,  the  volume 
of  work,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  court  room,  as 
most  cases  other  than  those  first  mentioned  do  not  differ 
materially  in  the  fundamental  factors  involved.  The  im- 
portant thing  is  that  the  cases  of  all  children  shall  be 
heard  speedily  and  as  privately  as  is  consistent  with 
public  policy. 

PROCEDURE   IN    COURT    HEARINGS 

There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  methods  followed  in 
hearing  cases.  Most  courts  agree  that  the  hearing 
should  be  informal,  and  the  child  and  relatives  put 
so  far  as  possible  at  ease  by  a  perfectly  natural  and 
readily  understood  manner  of  inquiry.  In  some  courts, 
however,  some  of  the  forms  of  criminal  procedure 
are  still  adhered  to.  The  witnesses  and  often  the 
child  are  sworn  and  the  legal  complaint  is  read  out  loud. 
While  the  oath  may  serve  a  purpose  in  securing  the  truth- 
ful'testimony  of  adult  witnesses,  it  has  not  proven  of 
value  with  children.  It  should  be  discarded  as  a  useless 
and  confusing  formality  in  dealing  with  the  child.  The 
oath  means  little  or  nothing  to  children,  who  tell  the 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

truth  more  freely  when  they  are  not  frightened  by 
formalities.  Formal  proceedings  not  only  frighten  many 
children,  but  they  misinterpret  the  court's  function  as 
friend  and  instructor.  Any  form  of  procedure  which 
smacks  of  prosecution  or  inquisition  puts  a  child  in  a 
position  of  defense.  Such  procedure  is  entirely  incom- 
patible with  the  juvenile  court  idea. 

The  best  results  are  obtained  when  the  judge,  before 
hearing  a  case,  has  examined  all  the  papers  relating  to 
it,   in   order  first  to  get  a   general   impression   of   the/' 
child   and   the   case.     With   that   impression    in   mind, 
the  judge  may  proceed  more  directly  and  intelligently^ 
to    get   the    facts    from   the   child,  "relatives   and   wit- 
nesses.    Some    judges    prefer    to    hear    the    witnesses 
first   and  the  child  and  his  parents  last.     That  order^^t^ 
has  the  disadvantage  of  putting  the  child  on  the  defen- 
sive. 

The  judge  who  says,  "  Well,  Johnnie,  this  paper  says 
that  you  have  stolen  three  pairs  of  pigeons  from  Sam 
Jones,"  is  more  likely  to  get  an  honest  and  open  response 
than  the  judge  who  begins  by  hearing  witnesses  before 
going  to  the  boy  for  his  story.  Furthermore,  it  is  bet- 
ter for  its  effect  on  the  child. 

No  rules  can  be  laid  down  for  the  detailed  conduct  of 
hearings.  Each  case  has  its  own  peculiarities.  There 
are  many  cases  in  which  it  is  better  to  examine  the  wit- 
nesses first;  others  in  which  the  child  should  be  ex- 

> 

amined  in  entire  privacy  in  the  absence  of  witnesses; 
others  in  which  the  child  should  retire  while  the  judge 
talks  privately  to  parents,  varying  according  to  circum- 
stances in  each  case.  In  cases  in  which  it  is  necessary 

63 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

for  the  court  to  reprimand  parents,  the  child  should 
never  be  present. 

In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  law  the  position 
of  counsel  in  the  hearing  is  quite  different  from  that  in 
the  trial  of  a  criminal  case.  It  is  rarely  necessary  or 
desirable  for  counsel  to  appear  in  the  interest  of  chil- 
dren; and  when  counsel  do  appear,  it  is  usually  in  the 
interest  of  the  parent.  The  judge  and  the  probation 
officer  stand  in  a  wholly  different  relation  to  the  child 
from  that  in  which  a  trial  judge  and  prosecuting  officer 
stand.  They  represent  his  interests  and  welfare.  As 
the  real  purpose  of  the  proceeding  is  the  welfare  of  the 
child,  every  effort  should  be  made  to  make  attorneys 
realize  that  fact.  In  actual  practice  it  has  not  been  diffi- 
cult to  accomplish  this  in  a  majority  of  the  courts,  since 
the  members  of  the  bar  readily  accept  the  suggestions 
of  the  judge.  In  some  courts,  however,  where  relics  of 
criminal  law  and  criminal  procedure  are  still  found  we 
likewise  find  lawyers  representing  children  in  the  old 
technically  contentious  way. 

The  nature  of  the  proceeding  makes  it  impossible  to 
use  the  jury  at  the  hearing.  In  the  early  history  of 
the  movement  the  provisions  for  trial  by  jury  were  in- 
serted in  the  law  as  a  concession  to  those  lawyers  who 
feared  attacks  on  the  ground  that  constitutional  rights 
to  a  jury  trial  could  not  be  taken  away  from  the  child. 
This  conception  rested  upon  the  proposition  that  the 
child  was  being  tried  —  as  if  under  indictment  —  for  a 
crime.  One  by  one  the  courts  declined  to  take  this  view 
and  held  that  there  was  no  requirement  under  the  vari- 
ous constitutional  guarantees  that  made  a  jury  neces- 

64 


o  ~ 

-I  0° 

n  n 

I  ? 

I-  S 


Organization  and  Procedure 

sary.  In  practice  a  jury  could  only  serve  to  complicate 
the  situation  and  hamper  the  judge  in  disposing  of  the 
case. 

GROUPS   OF    CHILDREN 

'The  delinquent  children  who  come  before  any  juvenile 
court  may  be  roughly  divided  into  three  groups  from 
the  standpoint  of  their  social  status,  which  best  indicates 
the  dispositions  to  be  made: 

First,  those  whose  homes  and  social  influences  are 
thoroughly  good,  but  who  have  committed  some  offense. 
Such  children  do  not  need  an  institution  or  probation,  ex- 
cept in  very  rare  cases.  Discharge,  warning,  restitution 
and  the  like  are  most  applicable. 

Second,  children  whose  homes  and  social  environment 
are  ineffective,  who  offend  more  or  less  frequently,  and 
who  are  in  need  of  additional  guidance.  Such  children 
need  probation,  and,  that  failing,  the  special  training  of 
an  institution. 

Third,  the  small  number  of  children  mentally  or 
morally  defective.  These  children  usually  need  excep- 
tional care,  sometimes  in  their  own  home  or  in  a 
family  —  more  often  in  institutions.  Feeble-minded 
children  should  be  sent  to  institutions.  Probation  is 
rarely  a  satisfactory  disposition  of  such  cases  —  and  a 
discharge  is  worse. 

Those  children  whose  homes  and  social  environment 
are  bad,  of  course,  compose  the  group  of  neglected  chil- 
dren. For  such  children,  removal  from  their  homes  and 
commitment  to  relatives,  friends  or  placement  in  a  suit- 
able family  home  is  usually  advisable.  In  some  few 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Jr 

cases,  where  the  home  may  be  good  and  the  environment 
bad,  results  can  be  secured  by  having  the  family  move 
into  a  better  neighborhood.  Occasionally,  even  a  bad 
'  home  can  be  reconstructed  through  the  probation  of  par- 
ents. 

JUDICIAL   DISPOSITIONS 

Every  essential  fact  regarding  a  child  should  *be  pre- 
sented to  the  court  before  a  judicial  disposition  of  the 
case  is  made.  Making  the  disposition  is  the  most  im- 
portant single  point  in  the  entire  juvenile  court  system, 
for  it  prescribes  what  influence,  if  any,  the  State  shall 
apply  to  protect  or  guide  a  child  in  his  formative  years. 
The  underlying  idea  in  making  all  dispositions  should  be 
the  training  of  the  child  to  make  him  as  good  a  mem- 
ber of  society  as  possible.  Every  disposition  should  be 
based  on  the  idea  of  what  is  best  for  the  child's  welfare. 
There  are,  however,  many  judges  who  still  adhere  to  the 
idea  of  punishment,  of  inflicting  some  pain  upon  a  child 
as  the  consequence  of  his  wrong-doing.  Such  an  idea 
is  opposed  at  once  to  the  letter  and  the  spirit  -of  juvenile 
court  laws.  There  is  no  justification  for  that  attitude  of 
mind  well-expressed  on  one  occasion  by  a  judge  who 
said  to  a  probation  officer,  "  What  you  propose  is  all 
right  for  the  future  of  this  child,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  under  your  plan  he  will  grow  up  to  be  a  good  man, 
but  the  court  cannot  condone  this  offense,  and  the  child 
will  have  to  suffer  for  it." 

No  case,  no  matter  how  trivial,  should  be  disposed 
of  without  explaining  both  to  the  parents  and  child  ex- 
actly what  the  decision  of  the  court  is  —  and  often  the 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

reason  for  it.  Parents  frequently  leave  the  court  with- 
out any  clear  idea  of  what  has  been  decided  or  why. 
This  is  especially  true  of  immigrant  parents.  Every  ef- 
fort should  be  made  by  the  judge  and  probation  officers 
to  explain  carefully  every  disposition,  wherever  there  is 
any  doubt  about  its  being  clearly  understood. 

Substantially  there  are  only  three  decisions  or  disposi-  Y.* 
tions  of  a  child  which  the  judge  can  make.     He  may 
either  discharge  him,  place  him  on  probation,  or  commit 
him  to  an  institution.     There  are,  of  course,  many  con- 
ditional decisions,  involving  restitution  of  property  or 
reparation  of  damage,  or  involving  some  action  on  the 
part  of  parents,  such  as  moving  to  another  neighborhood, 
or  sending  the  child  out  of  the  city  to  relatives.     Fines 
are  not  properly  a  disposition  of  children's  cases, 
are  clearly_illegal  under  modern  juvenile  court  laws. 

DISCHARGES 

In  cases  in  which  the  evidence  does  not  substantiate 
the  complaint  made  in  the  petition,  the  child  will,  of 
course,  be  discharged.  Even  in  cases  in  which  the  com- 
plaint is  substantiated,  there  are  often  reasons  why  the 
court  should  discharge  the  child,  chiefly  because  the  in- 
tervention of  the  court  is  not  necessary  for  the  child's 
welfare.  For  instance,  children  arrested  for  violations 
of  certain  ordinances  —  playing  ball  in  the  alley,  mak- 
ing fires  on  vacant  lots,  riding  bicycles  after  dark  with- 
out a  lamp,  etc.,  etc., —  can  be  safely  discharged  with 
a  warning  where  home  conditions  and  school  records  are 
good.  Children  who  offend  through  ignorance  of  such 
ordinances  should,  of  course,  be  discharged.  Most  such 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

cases  are  so  trivial  that  the  court  should  not  deal  with 
them  at  all. 

In  some  cases,  even  though  the  evidence  touching  the 
particular  act  complained  of  is  insignificant,  there  may 
be  features  which  demand  action  by  the  court.  There 
is  a  real  danger  in  discharging  children  who  are  grow- 
ing up  under  conditions  which  the  court  might  correct. 
The  sentimental  idea,  "  Give  the  child  another  chance  " 
often  leads  to  a  discharge,  when  probation  would  have 
saved  him  from  further  misfortunes. 

MONEY    PENALTIES 

Money  penalties  or  fines  as  punishment  for  wrong- 
doing are  absolutely  opposed  to  the  thought  underlying 
the  modern  movement.  They  are  relics  of  and  part  of 
the  criminal  law.  In  the  early  history  of  the  movement 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Michigan  declared  invalid  a  law 
of  that  state  which  gave  power  to  a  juvenile  court 
founded  on  the  chancery  idea  to  impose  a  money  penalty. 
Nevertheless,  money  penalties  in  the  form  of  costs  of 
court  or  fines  are  in  very  common  use  in  juvenile  courts 
where  founded  on  the  criminal  law.  They  cannot  be 
used,  however,  where  the  law  provides  the  civil 
(chancery)  procedure  for  the  juvenile  court.  The  dis- 
ciplinary value  of  money  penalties  is  often  secured,  how- 
ever, even  under  civil  (chancery)  procedure  by  requiring 
restitution,  the  earning  and  saving  of  money  or  the  im- 
position of  daily  tasks. 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  desirability 
of  using  fines  or  money  penalties  in  children's  cases.  It 
is  regarded  by  some  juvenile  court  workers  as  being  en- 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

tirely  inefficient  if  urged  as  an  educational  influence,  be- 
cause the  burden  of  the  fine  falls  not  upon  the  child,  but 
upon  its  parents.  Others  regard  it  not  only  as  a  penalty 
or  punishment  opposed  in  spirit  to  the  thought  underly- 
ing the  law,  but  of  no  educational  value  whatever.  As 
opposed,  some  feel  that  fines  have  a  more  or  less  educa- 
tional value  for  the  child,  and,  in  certain  instances,  for 
his  parents.  Where  the  practice  of  fines  prevails,  they 
are  most  frequently  used  in  such  cases  as  automobile 
speeding  and  other  violations  of  traffic  ordinances,  gam- 
bling and  similar  offenses  in  which  money  plays  a  part 
in  the  offense.  In  practically  all  such  cases  the  public, 
not  an  individual,  is  the  complainant.  Fines  are  useful, 
it  is  urged,  in  cases  in  which  a  discharge  or  probation  are 
equally  unsuitable. 

The  same  educational  value  is  claimed  for  court  fines 
as  for  the  fines  in  use  in  many  families  for  violations  of 
family  rules.  Those  who  favor  the  use  of  money 
penalties  point  out  that  the  child  cannot  well  get  the 
disciplinary  benefit  of  a  fine  unless  he  pays  it  himself. 
Fines  can  be  made  very  small  and  payable  in  instal- 
ments, even  as  little  as  a  few  cents  a  week.  The  child 
may  be  required  to  pay  it  from  his  parental  allowance  if 
he  gets  one,  or  to  earn  the  money,  even  if  he  earns  it 
by  special  work  for  his  parents.  Those  who  believe 
that  fines  have  value  concede,  however,  that  no  fine  or 
costs  of  court  should  ever  be  assessed  against  any  child 
whose  family  would  suffer  by  paying  it.  It  is  only 
•when  the  fine-money  can  be  spared  and  when  it  can  be 
used  as  an  educational  discipline  for  the  child  that  it 
can  have  any  value  whatever. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

RESTITUTION    AND    REPARATION 

Another  practice  in  juvenile  courts  involving  money 
payments, —  restitution  and  reparation, —  is  accepted 
throughout  the  country.  The  words  are  often  used  in- 
terchangeably. Properly,  restitution_is_the  return  to  .the 
complainant  of  the  value  of  property  taken  or  loss  caused 
by  the  child,  that  is,  re-paying  the  actual  money  value 
lost;  rep_aration  is  the  payment  of  money  in  the  form  of 
damages  for  injury  done.  The  practice  is  followed  in 
a  great  variety  of  cases.  A  child  who  breaks  a  window 
is  required  to  repay  to  the  owner  of  the  window  its 

ue.  A  child  who  has  stolen  is  required  to  return  the 
value  of  the  articles.  A  child  who  does  a  person  bodily 
injury,  whereby  a  doctor's  bill  is  contracted,  is  required 
to  pay  the  bill  or  repay  the  amount  to  the  injured  person. 
In  addition,  in  such  a  case  as  this  last,  reparation  as  well 
as  restitution  may  be  required,  that  is,  payment  for  the 
injury  done,  as  well  as  for  the  expense  of  a  doctor's 
treatment. 

While  the  juvenile  court  is  not  a  collection  agency,  yet 
5^  complainants  have  a  right  to  expect  restitution  or 
reparation.  The  great  value  of  restitution  and  repara- 
tion is  not  in  the  satisfaction  of  the  complainant,  but  in 
their  educational  discipline  of  the  child.  It  should  be 
stated,  however,  that  many  probation  officers  believe  that 
the  requirement  of  money  payments,  even  for  the  de- 
sirable process  of  restitution,  is  on  the  whole  undesirable 
as  tending  to  assume  the  principal  place  in  the  minds  of 
both  probation  officer  and  child  and  to  distract  their  at- 
tention from  more  fundamental  features  of  the  proba- 
tion. 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

r 

COMMITMENTS 

The  word  "  commitment,"  whether  used  in  connection 
with  a  delinquent  or  neglected  child,  describes  a  judg- 
ment of  court  placing  a  child  in  the  custody  of  an  in- 
stitution, and  the  word  should  be  used  in  no  other  con- 
nection. The  commitment  of  a  delinquent  child  is  often 
erroneously  looked  upon  in  many  courts  as  a  form  of 
punishment,  and  as  the  only  suitable  punishment  for 
very  serious  offenses.  A  commitment,  like  all  other  disl 
positions,  can  be  justified  only  on  the  ground  of  educa-  '' 
^t'lQnal  discipline.  It  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  means 
of  discipline  of  the  last  resort.  Institutional  training  at  J 
best  is  inferior  to  good  home  training,  and  its  chief  use- 
fulness is  for  children  who  have  gone  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  successful  home  training. 

Therefore,  children  whose  habits  are  continuously  bad 
and  whose  control  at  home  is  ineffective,  may  be  con- 
sidered proper  subjects  for  institutional  training.  This 
may  be  true  even  on  a  child's  first  appearance  in  court, 
although  usually  it  should  not  be  resorted  to  until  after 
probation  has  failed. 

Temporary  detention  in  institutions  or  in  family  homes 
is  often  resorted  to  in  the  case  of  neglected  children  as 
a  means  for  reforming  the  habits  of  parents.  A  shift-  / 
less,  neglectful  mother  or  a  loafing,  intemperate  father 
sometimes  change  completely  their  ways  of  living  with 
the  shock  of  being  deprived  of  their  children.  Such  a 
commitment,  followed  by  conditional  release  to  parents 
and  careful  supervision,  is  often  the  beginning  of  suc- 
cessful treatment  of  serious  cases  of  neglect. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

The  commitment  of  delinquent  children  to  institutions 
should  always  be  for  indeterminate  periods.  No  fixed 
sentence  —  thirty,  sixty,  ninety  days,  or  six  months  —  is 
justifiable  from  the  educational  standpoint.  It  is  im- 
possible for  a  judge  to  tell  in  advance  how  long  a  child 
needs  to  be  in  an  institution  to  be  cured  of  bad  habits. 
That  is  primarily  a  matter  for  the  institution  authorities 
to  decide.  While  the  court  may  retain  the  control,  as  it 
should,  and  grant  the  release  of  a  child  at  any  time,  still 
the  best  results  are  naturally  obtained  when  that  release 
is  dependent  largely  upon  the  counsel  of  those  who  study 
and  understand  the  child  in  the  institution. 

The  judge  should  require  that  children  committed  to 
institutions  be  taken  at  once  by  the  proper  officer.  De- 
lays are  frequent  in  many  courts  when  commitments  are 
made  to  distant  institutions,  and  children  are  sometimes 
held  until  several  can  be  taken  together.  It  is  impor- 

/tant  that  each  child  should  go  as  privately  and  quietly  as 
possible,  by  the  ordinary  means  of  travel,  and  that  all 

"'  appearance  of  being  in  custody  should  be  avoided. 
Patrol  wagons  should  never  be  used.  Girls  should  in- 
variably be  accompanied  by  women. 

PROBATION 

Probation  is  a  judgment  of  the  court  placing  the  child 
under  the  guidance  and  control  of  a  probation  officer. 
A  distinction  should  be  made  between  delinquent  and 
neglected  children  in  the  use  of  "  probation."  Probation 
is  properly  a  term  to  be  used  only  in  connection  with 
delinquent  children,  for  it  means  a  "  trying  out "  of  the 
child  under  guidance  and  discipline.  In  the  case  of  neg- 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

lected  children,  it  is  the  parents  who  chiefly  need  to  be 
looked  after,  and  the  term  "  supervision  "  applying  to  the 
children  more  accurately  indicates  the  process  than  the 
word  "  probation." 

The  use  of  probation  in  juvenile  courts  is  very  gen- 
eral, but  its  application  varies  greatly.  Children  of  aver- 
age habits  with  good  homes  and  surroundings  will  be 
discharged  in  one  court,  and  in  another  jurisdiction, 
placed  on  probation. 

In  some  courts  children  who  clearly  are  failing  to 
respond  to  guidance  will  be  put  on  probation  time  and 
again,  while  in  other  jurisdictions  they  are  committed. 
As  a  general  rule,  probation  should  be  used  whenever  a 
child  has  a  home  in  which  he  is  not  actually  neglected, 
and  when  he  seems  capable  of  response  to  good  influences. 

No  suggestion  can  be  made  as  to  the  acts  for 
which  probation  is  a  suitable  disposition  because  proba- 
tion does  not  depend  for  its  applicability  on  the  act, 
but  on  the  child  and  the  conditions  under  which  he  lives. 
Probation  may  be  entirely  suitable,  even  when  the  act 
committed  is  very  serious.  It  is  primarily  the  child,  not 
the  act,  which  the  court  is  treating.  Very  often  pro- 
bation can  be  combined  with  conditional  factors,  such 
as  requiring  a  family  to  move  from  an  undesirable  neigh- 
borhood to  one  better  adapted  to  the  needs  of  their  boy 
on  probation.  Such  conditions  are  justified  by  the  na- 
ture of  probation  itself. 

OTHER   DISPOSITIONS 

There  are  many  other  orders  which  judges  of  juvenile 
courts  are  called  upon  to  make.  There  are  releases  and 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

paroles  from  institutions;  changes  of  custody  of  neg- 
lected children  from  one  family  to  another,  or  from  a 
family  to  an  institution;  orders  of  maintenance,  and  in 
some  courts,  orders  affecting  parents  and  others  in  their 
relation  to  laws  protecting  children. 

Whenever  any  change  in  the  legal  custody  of  a  ward 
of  the  court  is  made,  an  entry  should  be  made  to  cover 
it,  whether  or  not  the  child  actually  appears.  This  is  a 
judicial  matter,  but  probation  officers  are  prone  to  handle 
such  "  details "  summarily  themselves.  Some  judges 
allow  them  to  make  such  changes.  Institutions  often 
place  children  out  without  any  record  being  made  in 
court.  Such  a  practice  is  not  only  confusing,  but  usually 
illegal.  No  institution  or  probation  officer  should  make 
a  change  in  the  custody  of  a  child  except  through  order 
of  court,  entered  on  the  court's  docket. 

In  the  same  way,  a  final  discharge  from  probation  or 
supervision  should  be  entered  in  court,  and  the  child  him- 
self should  be  present  to  receive  the  order.  Only  by 
attention  to  all  such  items  in  the  business  of  the  court, 
can  the  record  be  accurately  kept,  and  children  effectively 
cared  for.  Many  juvenile  courts  still  show  a  striking 
lack  of  regularity  and  uniformity  in  their  official  records. 

SPECIAL   CASES 

There  are  certain  kinds  of  cases  which  are  treated  very 
differently  in  different  courts  and  by  different  judges  in 
the  same  court.  This  is  particularly  true  in  cases  in  which 
a  knife  has  been  used  to  inflict  bodily  injury.  These  so- 
called  cutting  cases,  common  as  they  are,  seem  to  be  re- 
garded with  peculiar  severity  by  many  judges.  Boys 

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Organization  and  Procedure 

who  have  never  been  in  court  before,  but  who  come  in  on 
a  stabbing  charge,  are  frequently  sent  to  institutions  at 
once,  without  any  trial  on  probation.  Yet  boys  who 
throw  rocks,  with  the  same  motive,  are  seldom  looked 
upon  as  very  serious  offenders.  The  difference  lies  in  \ 
the  common  dread  of  the  use  of  knives  because  of  the 
greater  likelihood  of  serious  injury.  These  distinctions, 
which  are  not  ordinarily  made  by  boys,  should  be  taught 
by  the  court.  While  the  results  may  be  serious,  the 
motive  of  an  act,  not  the  consequences  of  it,  should  be 
me  subject  of  the  court's  inquiry  and  tKeTfoasis  of  action. 
Even  manslaughter  should  be  considered  from  this  view- 
point. The  disposition  should  be  determined  by  the 
child's  record,  home  and  the  promise  for  his  future,  just 
as  in  any  other  case,  and  not  on  account  of  the  serious 
effects  of  wrong-doing.  CViolence  is  usually  much  easier 
to  cure  than  other  forms  of  delinquency. 

Another  group  of  cases  diversely  treated  are  those  in- 
volving some  sexual  wrong-doing  —  the  rather  frequent 
instances  of  maturing  boys  attempting  intercourse  with 
very  little  girls,  or  vulgar  practices  between  boys  and 
girls  in  the  very  early  period  of  adolescence.  There  is 
no  reason  why  such  cases  should  be  regarded  as  subjects 
for  peculiar  and  severe  treatment.  These  sex  offenses 
do  not  indicate  abnormalities.  There  is  hardly  any  boy 
in  the  uncertain  revolutionary  years  of  adolescence  who 
would  not  become  involved  under  certain  conditions  and 
temptations.  It  is  the  common  opinion  of  workers  with 
children  that  very  few  such  cases  are  ever  discovered 
compared  with  the  number  which  actually  exist  and  very 
few  of  those  discovered  are  brought  to  the  juvenile  court. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Says  a  prominent  judge,  "If  the  case  is  not  one  of  chronic 
sex  viciousness,  it  is  perfectly  absurd  to  commit  the  child 
to  an  institution,  and  it  should  never  be  done.  Many  of 
these  cases  are  physical  rather  than  moral,  or,  in  a  sense, 
unmoral.  It  is  only  in  a  case  of  sex  viciousness  that  is 
apparently  chronic  and  dangerous  to  society  and  other 
children  where  commitment  should  be  had." 

Feeling,  of  course,  is  often  high  in  neighborhoods 
where  such  acts  have  been  discovered,  but  the  court 
can  meet  such  situations  without  recourse  to  institutions. 
The  boy's  family  itself  is  usually  only  too  glad  to  move. 


PART  III 

PROBATION 

SECTION  i.     HISTORY  AND  DEFINITION 

THE  function  of  probation  has  grown  gradually 
through  many  years  until  it  is  now  a  definitely  established 
factor  in  court  procedure.  It  grew  originally  out  of  the 
practice  of  suspending  sentences  in  cases  in  which  the 
defendants  had  been  convicted,  and  imprisonment  mani- 
festly promised  to  be  of  little  or  no  avail.  The  courts, 
instead  of  executing  the  sentence  prescribed  by  law,  had 
the  right  of  indefinitely  postponing  it  and  releasing  the 
defendants  conditionally  on  good  behavior,  the  under- 
standing being  that  if  they  transgressed  the  law,  they 
would  be  returned  for  sentence  on  the  original  convic- 
tion, but  if  they  behaved,  the  sentence  would  be  in- 
definitely postponed  and  they  would  be  finally  discharged. 

It  naturally  followed  that  during  this  period  of  con- 
ditional release,  the  court  could  require  some  record  of 
the  conduct  of  the  persons  so  treated.  Police  authori- 
ties, parents,  relatives,  charity  workers,  or  other  persons, 
were  requested  to  take  an  interest  and  report  to  the  court 
the  conduct  and  progress  of  the  persons  so  released. 
The  judge  also  required  that  those  persons,  children  or 
adults,  so  released,  should  report  to  him. 

Out  of  this  practice  developed  naturally  the  idea  of 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

appointing  some  person  to  give  his  or  her  whole  time 
to  the  work,  such  a  person  to  be  paid  out  of  public  funds. 
In  1878  a  statute  was  enacted  providing  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  a  special  officer  in  Suffolk  County,  Boston, 
Mass.,  thus  demonstrating  that  the  idea  had  taken  root. 
These  officers  were  given  the  title  of  "  probation  officers  " 
and  the  system  of  supervision  of  persons  released  after 
conviction  has  ever  since  been  known  as  the  "  probation 
system." 

The  juvenile  court  views  the  probation  system  differ- 
ently. Instead  of  construing  it  as  the  postponement  of 
the  execution  of  sentence  after  conviction,  it  is  regarded 
under  chancery  procedure  as  a  means  of  judicial  guar- 
dianship,—  that  is,  a  form  of  discipline  and  guidance  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  exercised  over  the  child  in  his  own 
home.  Under  the  chancery  idea  in  juvenile  courts,  chil- 
dren who  have  been  adjudged  delinquent,  rather  than 
convicted  of  an  offense,  are  declared  to  be  "  in  need  of 
the  care  and  guardianship  of  the  State  " ;  they  become 
wards  of  the  court,  are  put  on  probation  and  placed 
under  the  control  of  the  State's  representative  —  the  pro- 
bation officer. 

The  difference  between  this  and  the  original  system  of 
probation  is  only  one  of  theory,  for  the  work  of  proba- 
tion officers  under  both  systems  is  practically  identical. 
Its  value  is  the  same  under  whatever  form  of  law  the 
court  is  organized. 

From  a  social  point  of  view,  probation  may  be  said  to 
be  a  process  of  educational  guidance  through  friendly 
supervision.  Mere  surveillance  is  not  probation.  Pro- 
bation is  an  intimate,  personal  relation  which  deals  with 

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Probation 

all  the  factors  of  a  child's  life,  particularly  his  home. 
Its  chief  function  is  to  adjust  the  forces  of  the  com- 
munity to  the  child's  life.  Every  social  agency  is  called 
into  play,  the  object  being  to  surround  the  child  with  a 
network  of  favorable  influences  which  will  enable  him  to 
maintain  normal  habits  of  life. 

The  term  "probation"  is  also  often  applied  to  the 
supervision  of  children  who  are  released  from  reforma- 
tory institutions,  when  as  a  matter  of  the  correct  use  of 
terms,  such  children  are  properly  on  "  parole."  There 
is  this  difference  between  probation  and  parole.  Proba- 
tion means  the  supervision  of  children  before  commit- 
ment to  institutions,  while  parole  means  the  supervision 
of  children  after  release  from  institutions. 

Probation  and  parole  are  terms  that  are  properly  used 
only  in  connection  with  children  who  have  been  declared 
delinquent.  In  speaking  of  the  process  of  court  under 
which  neglected  children  are  looked  after  by  probation 
officers  in  their  own  homes,  the  term  "  supervision  "  is 
better. 

PROBATION    AS    A    RECONSTRUCTIVE    FORCE 

The  whole  function  of  the  probation  and  supervision 
of  delinquent  and  neglected  children  is  coming  to  be 
recognized  as  a  positive  method  of  treatment,  as  an  ac- 
tive, constructive  force  in  the  lives  of  the  children  under 
its  influence.  Probation  is  regarded  less  and  less  as  a 
form  of  discharge,  of  "  letting  children  off  easy,"  an 
idea  surviving  with  that  of  punishment.  Delinquent 
children  are  put  on  probation  because  it  is  the  most  suit- 
able educational  influence  for  them. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

The  period  of  probation  should  always  be  indeter- 
minate, in  the  same  way  as  all  commitments  to  institu- 
tions. Judges  cannot  possibly  fix  the  period  of  treat- 
ment in  advance.  The  probation  officer  must  ordinarily 
be  the  judge  of  the  proper  time  to  recommend  the  ter- 
mination of  probation. 

This  conception  of  probation  as  a  vital,  active  force, 
naturally  carries  with  it  the  requirement  that  those  who 
exercise  this  function  —  the  probation  officers  —  should 
be  trained,  sympathetic,  and  experienced  men  and  women. 
They  must  measure  up  to  high  standards  of  character, 
personality  and  ability;  they  must  know  child  life,  the 
problems  of  the  family,  local  social  conditions,  and  the 
use  of  social  agencies.  The  probation  officer  must  bring 
home  to  every  child  a  feeling  of  the  directing  force  of 
probation.  The  old  type  of  loose  and  lifeless  supervision 
which  passed  under  the  name  of  probation  —  permitting 
a  boy  to  go  for  weeks  without  seeing  his  probation  officer, 
to  fail  in  his  reports  without  being  looked  up  —  is  being 
rapidly  displaced  by  this  positive  conception  of  probation 
as  a  vital,  adjusting,  educational  force. 

SECTION  2. 


THE   JUDGE  S   RELATION   TO   PROBATION 

Probation  is  not  a  judicial  function.  It  is  executive, 
similar  to  the  administration  of  a  reformatory  institu- 
tion. It  is  wholly  unlike  the  judicial  function.  The 
primary  function  of  the  judge  is  to  hear  the  evidence,  pass 
upon  the  investigations  and  to  enter  judgment.  Follow- 
ing up  the  treatment  of  children  who  are  made  wards  of 

82 


Probation 

the  court  is  a  secondary  and  quite  different  function. 
As  a  general  rule  the  judge  should  keep  in  close  touch 
with  the  probation  work,  as  well  as  with  the  institutions 
to  which  the  court  commits.  This  contact  helps  the 
judge  in  his  work  on  the  bench,  it  increases  the  efficiency 
of  the  probation  officers  and  it  helps  the  children. 

In  a  separate  juvenile  court,  presided  over  by  a  judge 
with  no  other  duties,  the  judge  may  even  take  an  active 
part  in  the  probation  work.  He  often  keeps  in  close 
personal  touch  with  probation  and  is  at  once  judge  and 
chief  probation  officer. 

When  the  court  is  a  division  of  an  existing  court,  as 
is  most  frequently  the  case,  the  judge's  service  is  usually 
limited,  or  much  of  his  time  taken  up  with  other  work. 
It  is  manifestly  impossible  for  a  judge  so  limited  to  do 
any  satisfactory  probation  work.  But  many  fudges  sit- 
ting in  courts  of  this  kind,  attempt  to  supervise  children 
on  probation  by  requiring  them  to  report  in  court  at 
stated  intervals.  This  practice  has  little,  if  any,  value. 
It  is  not  possible  for  the  judge  to  establish  close  personal 
relations  with  many  children,  and  the  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  the  work  is  necessarily  limited.  It  is  also  open 
to  the  serious  objection  of  compelling  the  child's  frequent 
attendance  in  court.  .  Mere  reports  are  of  little  value  in 
working  out  children's  problems.  It  is  the  visit  to  the 
child's  home  and  school,  the  knowledge  of  his  family, 
his  friends  and  neighbors  that  tell  most  in  the  reconstruc- 
tive process. 

As  a  general  rule,  therefore,  reports  to  the  judge  by 
probationers  are  valuable  only  in  those  juvenile  courts 
where  the  judge  has  ample  time  for  juvenile  court  work. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

In  courts  where  he  has  little  time,  the  judge's  chief  con- 
tribution to  the  probationary  process,  is  in  taking  up 
difficult  cases  with  probation  officers,  and  checking  up 
the  work  done  by  them. 

PROBATION  BY  TRAINED  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

No  probation  work  can  be  really  effective  unless  done 
by  or  under  direction  of  regular  probation  officers,  de- 
voting their  entire  time  to  the  work.  The  service  re- 
quires training,  undivided  attention,  and  interest  in  its 
problems.  The  courts  are  coming  to  require  more  gen- 
erally this  type  of  service  from  officers  paid  out  of  public 
funds. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  juvenile  court,  many  officers 
were  paid  out  of  private  funds.  Some  gave  the  whole, 
others  only  part  of  their  time  to  the  work.  In  some  very 
large  cities,  numbers  of  probation  officers  are  still  paid 
entirely  from  private  sources.  Some  of  them  are  agents 
of  children's  societies  appointed  as  probation  officers  by 
the  court.  Others  are  paid  by  emergency  citizens'  com- 
mittees, organized  to  perform  a  public  function  until 
the  State  by  legislation  and  appropriation  takes  it  over 
In  some  cities,  officers  of  the  court,  such  as  the  sheriff 
or  clerk,  are  appointed  to  exercise  the  function  of  proba- 
tion, and  in  others  police  officers  are  appointed  for  that 
service.  Many  courts  utilize  so-called  volunteer'  proba- 
tion officers,  men  or  women,  who  give  a  small  portion  of 
their  time  from  business  and  private  affairs  to  looking 
after  a  few  children  assigned  them  by  the  court. 

A  classification  of  the  various  persons  exercising  the 
function  of  probation  shows  the  following  groups : 

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Probation 

1.  Persons  giving  their  whole  time  to  probation  work. 

(a)  Those  paid  from  the  public  funds  either  as  reg- 
ularly employed  probation  officers  or  as  officers   from 
other  departments  detailed  as  probation  officers  (chiefly 
the  police  and  truant  officers). 

(b)  Those  paid  from  private  funds  either  as  special 
agents  or  as  paid  agents  of  some  children's  society  de- 
tailed to  this  work. 

(c)  In  exceptional  cases,  some  volunteers  who  give 
their  whole  time  without  remuneration. 

2.  Persons  giving  only  part  of  their  time  to  the  work 
of  probation. 

(a)  Agents  of  private  societies  who  do  probation  work 
in  addition  to  their  other  duties. 

(b)  Court  officers  giving  part  time  to  probation  work. 

(c)  Part-time  volunteer  probation  officers. 

It  is  clear  from  the  previous  statement  of  the  function 
of  probation  that  many  of  the  arrangements  outlined 
above  are  mere  make-shifts,  tolerable  only  until  such  time 
as  the  court  can  secure  its  own  paid  officers.  The  diffi- 
culty of  controlling  the  work  of  officers  appointed  by 
agencies  other  than  the  court  must  be  apparent. 

Several  courts  using  large  numbers  of  volunteer  officers 
have  advanced  the  belief  that  "  the  volunteer  is  a  better 
worker  with  the  child  than  a  paid  officer  "  on  the  ground 
that  the  paid  officer  becomes  impersonal  and  professional 
and  lacks  the  human  interest  and  fresh  touch  of  the  volun- 
teer. If  that  distinction  is  true  anywhere,  it  is  due  not  to 
the  merits  of  volunteers  as  opposed  to  paid  officers. 

85 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

but  to  the  personalities  and  qualifications  of  individ- 
uals. 

As  a  general  proposition,  the  function  of  probation  is 
such  a  delicate  and  continuous  service  that  only  persons 
who  give  their  whole  time  to  it  can  be  expected  to  in- 
fluence effectually  the  lives  of  the  children  committed  to 
their  care.  It  is  just  as  necessary  to  have  paid  probation 
officers  giving  their  whole  time  as  it  is  to  have  paid  em- 
ployees in  institutions  caring  for  children,  or  paid  teachers 
in  the  schools.  The  process  is  not  one  that  can  be  under- 
taken intermittently,  as  is  frequently  the  case  when  a 
volunteer  engaged  actively  in  some  other  business  under- 
takes to  care  for  a  child  on  probation.  The  most  effec- 
tive probation  officers  are  those  who  are  able  to  establish 
close,  natural  relationships  with  the  children  and  families 
with  whom  they  deal. 

No  general  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to  what  kind  or 
type  of  persons  have  this  qualification.  Even  as  between 
volunteer  and  paid  officers,  it  is  a  question  rather  of 
personality,  training,  and  experience  than  of  the  mere 
fact  of  compensation.  As  between  men  and  women,  it  is 
a  question  rather  of  the  group  of  children  with  whom 
they  deal,  for  it  is  apparent  for  instance  that  only  women 
are  qualified  to  supervise  girls,  and  that  men  are  better 
qualified  to  deal  with  adolescent  boys.  In  the  case  of 
colored  children,  a  more  natural  and  effective  relation  is 
established  with  them  and  their  families  by  colored  offi- 
cers than  by  white.  The  same  is  also  true  of  any  large 
racial  group. 


86 


Probation 


PROBATION    ON    A    BASIS   OF    RELIGIOUS    BELIEF 

It  is  the  practice  in  many  courts  to  assign  children  on 
the  basis  of  religious  belief.  This  is  done  particularly 
where  the  probation  officers  are  the  paid  agents  of  pri- 
vate societies.  Catholic  children  are  assigned  to  Catholic 
officers,  Protestant  children  to  Protestant  officers,  and 
Jewish  children  to  Jewish  officers.  While  the  question 
of  the  religious  influences  surrounding  the  child  must 
always  be  given  full  consideration  and  attention-  by  pro- 
bation officers,  the  problems  involved  in  most  cases  of 
neglect  and  delinquency,  would  not  naturally  suggest  this 
basis  of  assignment.  The  religious  influence  should  be 
provided  through  the  parents,  not  the  probation  officer. 
Certainly  it  is  a  mistake  to  sacrifice  to  the  religious  basis 
of  assignment  certain  fundamental  distinctions  in  assign- 
ment on  a  basis  of  sex,  color,  maturity,  and  the  character 
of  children. 

METHODS    OF    APPOINTMENT 

Probation  officers  are  selected  or  appointed  by  several 
methods.  They  are  universally  appointed  by  judges, 
either  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  alone,  or  in  con- 
junction with  his  colleagues,  where  the  juvenile  court  is 
a  division  of  a  court  of  larger  jurisdiction.  Judges  may 
appoint  without  restriction  of  any  kind,  or  upon  the 
approval  of  a  State  Probation  Commission,  State  Board 
of  Charities  or  other  supervisory  body  or  from  a  civil 
service  list  of  eligibles. 

The  application  of  these  methods  of  appointment  is  to 
a  large  extent  a  local  question.  In  some  places  unre- 

8? 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

stricted  appointments  by  the  judge  may  be  satisfactory. 
This  is  particularly  true  where  the  juvenile  court  judge 
is  appointed  or  elected  especially  for  that  work  and  for  a 
considerable  period  of  time.  Wherever  judges  change 
more  or  less  frequently  (and  the  probation  system  of 
course  is  permanent),  unrestricted  appointments  are  un- 
satisfactory. 

These  methods  of  appointment  represent  two  distinct 
ideas  as  to  the  function  of  a  probation  officer,  one,  that 
the  probation  officer  is  "  the  right  hand  of  the  court," 
the  judge's  personal  agent,  who  should,  therefore,  be  sub- 
ject to  his  entire  direction  and  control;  the  other,  that  the 
probation  officer  is  an  integral  part  of  the  community's 
system  for  the  care  of  children,  and  that  he  should  not 
be  subject  to  the  personal  favor  of  a  judge  serving  a 
limited  term. 

The  tendency  throughout  the  country  is  entirely  to- 
ward the  second  idea,  for  without  stability  and  continuity 
in  handling  the  executive  details  of  the  work  for  chil- 
dren, they  cannot  be  helped  effectively.  If  probation 
officers  are  not  protected  by  some  system  which  guaran- 
tees permanency  able  persons  cannot  be  obtained. 

There  should  be,  therefore,  some  form  of  the  merit 
system  in  the  selection  of  probation  officers.  This  may 
be  secured  by  a  rigid  civil  service  law,  the  appointments 
being  made  by  a  civil  service  commission,  or  the  appoint- 
ments may  be  made  by  a  judge  from  an  eligible  list  pre- 
pared by  a  commission  of  examiners.  The  essential 
points  are: 

ist:  That  the  positions  should  be  open  to  all  appli- 
cants. 

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Probation 

2nd:  That  there  should  be  a  fair  and  practical  exam- 
ination, directed  solely  to  determining  the  personality, 
experience  and  the  general  fitness  of  applicants  to  do 
probation  work. 

3rd:  That  the  selection  should  be  made  from  among 
the  highest  on  the  examination  list  by  an  appointing  officer 
who  is  not  also  an  examining  officer. 

4th:  That  there  should  be  some  security  of  tenure  of 
office,  that  discharges  should  be  made  only  for  good  cause 
and  that  an  officer  whom  a  judge  desires  to  remove  should 
be  allowed  a  hearing,  preferably  before  the  authorities 
who  examined  him. 

It  is  helpful  to  know  that  the  merit  system  can  be 
applied  without  specific  authority  of  law,  wherever  the 
appointing  officer  wants  it.  All  that  is  necessary  is  for 
the  appointing  officer  to  formulate  and  make  public,  rules 
governing  examinations  and  appointments.  He  can 
always  secure  volunteer  service  of  citizen  examiners  to 
conduct  the  examinations,  and  to  prepare  the  eligible  list 
from  which  the  appointments  are  made.  Even  this  vol- 
untary system  relieves  the  appointing  officer  of  the  pres- 
sure of  personal  and  political  influence  and  secures  for 
the  court  competent  officers  under  a  fairly  stable  tenure 
of  service.  Where  legal  provision  for  the  merit  service 
is  desired,  just  a  brief  phrase  will  suffice  to  secure  it. 
In  one  state,  for  instance,  an  entirely  successful  system 
has  been  in  operation  for  a  number  of  years  under  one 
short  section  in  the  law  which  reads :  "  The  probation 
officer,  deputy  probation  officers  and  persons  in  charge  of 
places  of  detention  as  provided  under  this  act,  shall  be 
appointed  on  the  basis  of  merit  only,  after  competitive 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

examination  had  in  pursuance  of  rules  made  a  matter  of 
public  record  of  the  circuit  court." 

A  merit  system  throughout  a  state  is  best  secured  by 
requiring  the  approval  of  appointments  by  a  state  body. 
Where  there  is  a  State  Probation  Commission  (and  as 
yet  only  two  states  have  such  commissions),  the  approval 
of  that  commission  is  required  for  all  appointments,  and 
where  there  is  not,  the  approval  of  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  may  well  be  required,  as  in  a  number  of  states. 
Only  in  this  way  can  uniformity  in  the  probation  service 
throughout  the  state  be  maintained. 

THE   FORM    OF   EXAMINATIONS 

The  most  desirable  form  of  examination  consists  of 
the  written  test  covering  the  experience  and  general 
knowledge  of  the  applicant,  and  an  oral  examination  to 
determine  the  applicant's  personality.  The  usual  rating 
on  the  examination  is  on  a  basis  of  50%  for  written 
answers  to  questions  on  the  duties  of  the  position  and 
the  knowledge  of  child  problems,  25%  for  experience 
and  25%  for  personal  qualifications.  The  tendency  is 
to  rate  experience  and  personality  even  higher,  each  being 
rated  by  some  examining  boards  as  high  as  40%.  The 
written  portion  of  the  examinations  is  intended  in  part 
as  a  qualifying  test  to  determine  whether  the  candidates 
possess  the  necessary  educational  requirements.  Persons 
unable  to  express  well  their  thoughts  in  writing  may, 
however,  possess  abilities  which  especially  fit  them  for 
probation  work. 


Probation 

PERSONALITY 

Less  attention  should  be  paid  to  technical  training  and 
scholastic  education  than  to  personality,  temperament  and 
experience.  No  system  of  selection  should  be  tolerated 
which  does  not  permit  the  greatest  freedom  in  determin- 
ing those  factors.  Juvenile  court  work  is  more  intimate, 
more  variable,  and  more  fraught  with  delicate  respon- 
sibilities than  almost  any  position  in  the  public  service. 
Such  a  public  officer,  clothed  with  powers  which  no  agent 
of  a  private  association  possesses,  stands  in  a  relation 
to  children  and  families  which  is  at  once  authoritative  and 
fundamental. 

Personality  as  a  selective  principle  decrees  that  persons  • 
with  physical  infirmities,  of  unprepossessing  appear- 
ance, untidy  or  ill-mannered,  should  never  be  consid- 
ered for  this  public  service.  Yet  it  is  an  unfortun- 
ate fact  that  appointments  of  just  this  kind  are  often 
made. 

Young  persons  just  out  of  school  or  college,  who  are 


often  applicants  for  juvenile  court  work,  are  usually  not 
desirable  because  they  cannot  have  the  mature  experience 
which  inspires  confidence  among  children  and  parents. 
On  the  other  hand,  elderly  persons  are  undesirable, 
largely  because  of  their  lack  of  force.  Where  a  number 
of  officers  are  employed,  they  will  naturally  vary  in  ages 
—  and  age  plays  a  large  part  in  qualifying  men  or  women 
to  deal  with  particular  groups.  While  earnest  and  vig- 
orous young  men  may  be  the  very  best  supervisors  for. 
active  and  wayward  boys,  delinquent  girls  need  the 
counsel  of  mature  women.  Older  boys  of  sixteen  to 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

'eighteen  most  often  do  better  with  men  not  too  near  their 

1  own  age. 

'  The  tendency  of  men  in  public  office  to  use  the  public 
service  to  "  take  care  of  the  worthy  and  needy,"  gives 
us  instances  of  appointments  as  probation  officers  of  men 
too  old  or  too  feeble  for  other  work.  In  one  instance 
an  ancient  ex-superintendent  of  a  workhouse  was  ap- 
pointed to  this  delicate  task  of  directing  the  lives  of  chil- 
dren —  a  man  who  had  been  familiar  only  with  the 
methods  of  handling  the  roughest  criminal  element;  in 
another  case,  a  second-rate  detective  was  appointed; 
again,  a  deputy  sheriff;  again,  a  veteran  of  the  civil 
war.  Common  sense  and  a  proper  appreciation  of  the 
needs  of  children  would,  of  course,  have  prevented  any 
such  appointments  as  these,  or  many  others  which  could 
be  cited.  They  all  serve  to  emphasize  the  constant  need 
of  keeping  personality  uppermost  as  the  first  principle 
and  most  valuable  qualification  in  making  appointments. 

EDUCATIONAL   QUALIFICATIONS 

The  character  of  juvenile  court  work  requires  in  all 
officers  at  least  the  minimum  of  school  education  equiv- 
alent to  that  of  a  high  school. 

The  professionally  trained  social  worker  is  needed  par- 
ticularly in  this  work  —  trained  not  only  in  social  theory 
and  conditions,  but  more  particularly  in  actual  work  with 
unfortunate  families  in  which  a  large  knowledge  has 
been  acquired  and  the  mistakes  of  early  experience  have 
been  passed. 

Since  the  salaries  paid  probation  officers  are  usually 
somewhat  higher  than  in  corresponding  positions  in 

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Probation 

private  societies,  it  is  often  quite  possible  to  secure  per- 
sons experienced  in  other  related  social  work  —  such  as 
settlements,  children's  aid  work,  and  charity  organiza- 
tion societies.  A  young  man  or  a  young  woman  who 
has  the  background  of  social  theory  secured  in  school, 
and  in  addition  the  training  from  service  in  some  organ- 
ization, may  well  advance  himself  or  herself  by  enter- 
ing the  probation  service  after  a  few  years  of  practical 
experience.  That  is  a  natural  route,  and  one  of  excel- 
lent foundation  for  probation  work. 

EXAMPLES   OF   THE   WRITTEN   EXAMINATION 

The  following  are  given  as  examples  of  questions  for 
a  written  examination.  These  questions  were  furnished 
by  the  New  York  State  Probation  Commission.  They 
illustrate  a  common-sense  basis  of  examination. 

1.  Assume  that  a  14  year  old  girl,  living  in  a  lodging 
house,  where  she  helps  her  mother,  who  is  employed  as  a 
cook,  is  convicted  of  stealing  a  mask  on  Hallowe'en;  that 
the  father,  who  died  last  year,  left  the  mother  $1,000  in- 
surance ;  that  the  girl  is  large  for  her  age  and  goes  a  great 
deal  with  a  girl  sixteen  years  old;  that  she  has  frequent 
headaches,   especially  after  reading;  that  she  is   fond  of 
music ;  that  her  mother  declares  her  to  be  untruthful.     State 
(a)  whether  in  your  judgment  the  girl  should  be  placed  on 
probation,  and  the  reasons  for  your  answer;  (b)  were  she  to 
be  placed  on  probation,  what  sort  of  person  would  make  the 
best  probation  officer;  and  (c)  what  probationary  treatment 
you  would  suggest. 

2.  Assume  that  a  13  year  old  boy,  who  had  taken  fruit 
from  a  corner  fruit  stand,  is  transferred  by  the  court  to 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

your  probationary  care,  after  being  on  probation  for  one 
month  under  a  volunteer  probation  officer  who  reported  to 
the  court  that  the  boy  failed  to  report  to  him  as  promptly 
as  he  required,  and  who  made  other  criticisms  of  his  con- 
duct. Assume  that  the  boy  lives  in  a  three  room  apartment 
in  a  congested  district ;  that  his  father,  a  painter,  who  shows 
some  sign  of  lead  poisoning,  is  fretful,  and  has  lately  been 
drinking  to  excess ;  that  the  father  occasionally  sends  the 
boy  to  a  neighboring  saloon  for  beer;  that  the  mother,  who 
has  two  other  children,  is  a  good  housekeeper  and  fond  of 
her  children ;  that  the  boy  is  bright  in  school,  peddles  papers, 
is  a  leader  among  his  boy  companions,  but  is  inclined  to  be 
imprudent.  State  what  steps  you  would  take  after  receiv- 
ing the  boy  on  probation,  and  how  long  you  would  wish  to 
keep  the  boy  on  probation. 

ORAL   EXAMINATION 

The  oral  test,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  important  part 
of  the  examination,  testing  as  it  does  the  applicant's  per- 
sonality, consists  of  an  informal  interview  between  the 
examining  committee  and  each  applicant  personally. 
The  New  York  State  Probation  Commission  interviews 
applicants  for  a  period  of  ten  to  forty  minutes.  The 
nature  of  the  interview  is  that  which  any  business  or 
professional  man  who  is  to  employ  a  skilled  assistant 
would  naturally  have  with  applicants  for  the  position. 

Each  candidate  may  be  asked  such  questions  as  these 
in  the  oral  interview*:  "  Why  do  you  wish  to  change 
your  occupation,  and  to  become  a  probation  officer?" 
"  What  is  your  conception  of  the  duties  of  a  probation 
officer?  "  "  Why  do  you  think  you  would  succeed  at  such 
work?"  "What  have  you  ever  done  which  indicates 

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Probation 

that  you  arc  naturally  desirous  of  helping  other  persons?  " 
"  Would  you  be  willing  to  work,  if  necessary,  evenings 
and  holidays?  " 

The  candidates  are  asked  also  about  their  history, 
habits  and  interests.  They  may  also  be  requested  to 
describe  how  they  would  deal  with  one  or  two  hypo- 
thetical cases  of  children  or  adults  assigned  for  investi- 
gation or  probationary  care.  The  interview  affords  the 
examiners  an  opportunity  to  judge  not  only  the  mental 
endowments  of  the  candidates,  but  to  get  an  idea  of 
their  personal  appearance,  manner,  temperament,  inter- 
est, sincerity,  force  of  character,  and  general  aptitude  for 
probation  work. 

The  questions  and  answers  and  all  conversation  during 
the  oral  interviews  are  taken  down  by  a  stenographer; 
and  the  examiners,  independently  of  each  other,  rate  the 
candidates  either  according  to  the  general  impression- 
they  make,  or  according  to  some  fixed  schedule. 

SECURING  DESIRABLE   APPLICANTS 

Examination  or  no  examination,  statable  appointments 
cannot  be  made  unless  suitable  persons  become  candidates 
for  the  positions.  The  persons  best  qualified  to  do  pro- 
bation -work  should  be  induced  to  become  candidates. 
The  quality  of  the  applicants,  regardless  of  the  nature  of 
the  examination,  depends  in  the  first  instance  largely 
upon  the  compensation  paid.  The  larger  the  salary  the 
greater  the  likelihood  of  securing  persons  of  the  proper 
caliber  and  devotion.  Even  if  the  salary  is  adequate, 
many  persons  extremely  well-fitted  for  probation  work 
may  not  enter  an  examination,  or  become  candidates  for 

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appointment,  unless  their  special  interest  is  aroused. 
Such  persons  may  be  teachers,  clergymen,  lawyers,  social 
workers  or  persons  engaged  in  other  occupations.  No 
community  should  complain  that  it  cannot  get  competent 
officers  in  the  court  until  every  such  possibility  is  ex- 
hausted. Experience  has  shown  that  judges,  probation 
associations,  probation  commissions  and  other  friends  of 
probation,  can  render  valuable  aid  in  getting  the  right 
kind  of  people  appointed,  first  by  securing  adequate  ap- 
propriations for  salaries,  and,  second,  by  rounding  up 
applicants  especially  adapted  to  probation  work. 

SALARIES 

Salaries  of  probation  officers  differ  widely  throughout 
the  country.  In  order  to  secure  competent  persons,  the 
annual  salary  should  be  at  least  the  amount  paid  a  first- 
class  high-school  teacher  in  the  community.  If  superior 
persons  are  to  be  secured  for  the  service,  the  compensa- 
tion should  be  higher  than  that  of  the  public  school 
teacher  —  considerably  higher,  in  view  of  the  teacher's 
long  summer  vacation  not  enjoyed  by  the  probation 
officer. 

In  the  very  large  cities  a  salary  of  from  $2000.00  to 
$3000.00  must  be  paid  to  secure  a  competent  chief  pro- 
bation officer  and  from  $1000.00  to  $1500.00  to  secure 
competent  assistant  probation  officers.  In  smaller  cities 
or  towns,  where  the  scale  of  salaries  is,  of  course,  lower, 
and  where  the  probation  force  is  small,  the  salary  of  the 
chief  probation  officer  should  be  between  $1200.00  and 
$2000.00,  and  the  salaries  of  assistants  between  $800.00 
and  $1200.00. 

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Probation 

It  has  been  found  desirable  also  to  provide  graduated 
salaries  in  the  probation  service,  a  system  that  obtains 
in  some  public  departments  and  in  practically  all  private 
business.  Such  a  provision  would  start  a  probation  offi- 
cer, for  instance,  with  a  compensation  of  $1000.00  a 
year,  increasing  at  the  rate  of  $100.00  for  each  year  of 
service  for  four  years  until  the  maximum  of  $1400.00 
is  reached.  This  principle  recognizes  the  value  of  in- 
creased experience  and  puts  a  premium  on  continuous 
service. 

EXPENSES 

In  practically  all  courts,  probation  officers  are  put  to 
expense  in  carfare,  transportation  and  the  like.  Such 
expenses  should  be  met  by  appropriating  an  expense  fund. 
The  ordinary  expense  for  such  purposes  in  large  cities, 
where  street  cars  are  used,  is  comparatively  small  — 
$10.00  or  less  a  month  for  each  probation  officer.  In 
country  districts,  if  an  officer  has  a  large  territory  to 
cover  and  must  use  a  carriage  or  the  railroad,  it  is  likely 
to  be  considerably  higher,  often  as  much  as  $15.00  or 
$20.00  a  month. 

In  some  states  probation  officers  are  also  allowed  addi- 
tional sums  for  giving  relief  to  probationers  who  are  in 
need.  Juvenile  court  workers  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  giving  of  any  relief  whatever  by  probation  officers  is 
unwise,  and  that  they  should  in  every  instance  call  in 
the  organized  agencies  of  relief  in  the  community  rather 
than  undertake  so  difficult  and  inappropriate  a  work  them- 
selves. 


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SECTION  3.     POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  PROBATION 
OFFICERS 

Probation  officers  have  to  deal  both  with  children  who 
are  wards  of  court,  and  children  who  are  not.  • 

RELATION    TO    CHILDREN    NOT    LEGAL    WARDS 

Among  those  who  are  not  legal  wards  are  the  children 
about  whom  some  complaint  has  been  made  or  a  legal 
information  filed.  An  investigation  must  be  made,  either 
to  dispose  of  the  complaint  or  to  set  the  machinery  in 
motion  for  bringing  the  child  before  the  court. 

Acting  for  the  court,  the  probation  officer  has  the 
power  to  make  a  full  preliminary  inquiry,  by  interrogat- 
ing child,  relatives  and  witnesses.  If  this  power  is  ques- 
tioned and  information  refused,  as  it  sometimes  is,  the 
probation  officer  cannot  force  his  power  and  can  only 
report  to  the  court  his  inability  to  get  the  facts.  The 
court  can  get  them  at  the  hearing.  Some  juvenile  court 
laws  give  the  probation  officer  authority  to  take  children 
complained  of  into  custody  on  order  of  court.  Even 
where  the  law  does  not  make  provision,  written  order 
from  the  judge  directing  the  probation  officer  to  take  a 
child  into  custody  is  practicable. 

Probation  officers  are  helped  in  the  performance  of 
these  and  other  duties  by  carrying  a  metal  badge,  or  star, 
indicating  their  authority.  Such  badges  should,  of 
course,  be  worn  concealed  at  all  times  and  displayed  only 
in  cases  of  necessity.  Although  these  emergencies  sel- 
dom arise,  probation  officers  should  be  provided  with 
badges  at  all  times. 

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Probation 

There  are  other  children  not  wards  of  the  court  — 
not  even  complained  of  —  who  are  dealt  with  in  many 
cities  by  probation  officers.  A  great  difference  in  practice 
exists  in  regard  to  this  function.  Children  detected  in 
the  commission  of  offenses  may  be  arrested  under  the 
laws  of  some  states  by  probation  officers  acting  under 
"  sheriff  powers."  This,  however,  clearly  takes  the  pro- 
bation officer  outside  the  sphere  of  his  primary  function, 
probation.  It  makes  of  him  in  the  minds  of  children  an 
arresting  or  police  officer  and  conflicts  with  the  real  idea 
which  probation  should  convey. 

In  some  cities,  however,  probation  officers  become  vir- 
tually the  truant  officers  of  the  city,  following  up  the 
cases  of  non-attendance  at  school,  breaking  up  neighbor- 
hood gangs,  arresting  children  for  specific  acts  and, 
in  general,  acting  as  the  children's  police.  This  is  a 
function  which  should  be  exercised  by  the  police  depart- 
ment, and  by  the  truant  officers  of  the  schools.  It  is 
peculiarly  the  business  of  truant  officers.  In  no  sense 
is  it  a  part  of  the  work  of  probation.  The  only  excuse 
for  its  assumption  is  that  of  expediency;  that  is,  that 
the  work  has  to  be  done  and  that  police  or  truant  officers 
do  not  do  it.  Such  a  practice  on  the  part  of  probation 
officers  should  be  most  strongly  discouraged,  largely  be- 
cause it  tends  to  increased  laxity  on  the  part  of  the  police 
and  school  authorities.  If  the  probation  officers  are  will- 
ing to  assume  the  whole  burden,  they  will  get  it,  and  their 
probation  work  will,  therefore,  suffer. 

The  same  principle  holds  true  in  regard  to  the  part 
which  probation  officers  play  in  many  cities  in  neighbor- 
hood quarrels.  All  kinds  of  petty  complaints  are  enter- 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

tained  by  the  probation  officer,  who  is  occupied  with  ad- 
justing affairs  between  Mrs.  Jones'  children  and  Mrs. 
Smith's  children.  In  explanation,  it  is  argued  that  the 
probation  officer  is  the  only  officer  who  should  do  this, 
because  he  can  do  it  much  better  than  the  police  officer. 

The  extent  to  which  probation  officers  should  deal  with 
cases  unofficially  brought  to  their  attention  depends 
largely  upon  local  conditions.  It  is  far  better  that  a 
probation  officer  should  deal  with  such  cases  than  that 
they  should  not  be  dealt  with  at  all.  Many  times  he 
can  give  advice  or  warning,  when  trouble  arises,  which 
will  prevent  a  child  being  brought  to  court.  Many  such 
cases  complained  of  to  the  probation  officer  are,  of  course, 
adjusted  very  simply  in  this  way  without  the  filing  of  a 
complaint.  But  no  probationary  treatment  should  be 
given  by  probation  officers  without  bringing  the  child 
before  the  court  officially.  Such  practices  as  so-called 
"  unofficial  probation  "  of  children  who  have  never  been 
before  the  court  should  be  discouraged.  With  the  great 
volume  of  work  always  before  a  probation  officer,  he 
must  always  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  his  chief  work 
and  responsibility  is  the  care  and  guidance  of  the  chil- 
dren committed  to  his  supervision  by  the  court. 

There  is  still  one  other  point  regarding  the  authority 
of  probation  officers  over  children  who  are  not  wards  of 
the  court.  It  relates  to  the  release  of  children  from 
places  of  detention.  Courts,  without  authorization  of 
law,  often  permit  the  probation  officers  to  release  chil- 
dren to  their  parents  or  relatives  on  written  promise  to 
appear  in  court,  the  probation  officer  using  his  discretion 
as  to  which  children  should  be  released  and  which  de- 

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Probation 

tained.  Some  courts  allow  the  sheriff,  the  clerk  of  the 
court,  or  the  keeper  of  the  place  of  detention  to  act  in 
this  capacity.  That  matter  must  be  determined  largely 
by  local  conditions.  It  may  be  stated  generally,  how- 
ever, that  the  power  to  release  a  child  pending  hearing 
can  with  perfect  safety  be  placed  in  a  number  of  officials 
to  the  end  that  the  child  may  not  be  unnecessarily  de- 
tained. 

RELATION   TO  LEGAL   WARDS 

The  power  of  probation  officers  in  relation  to  wards 
of  the  court  is  pretty  clear.  It  is  at  least  more  definite 
than  that  over  children  not  wards  of  the  court.  Most 
laws  specifically  give  the  probation  officer  the  right  to 
return  a  child  placed  in  his  care  to  the  court  for  a  viola- 
tion of  probation  or  parole.  Where  a  court  process  is 
necessary  to  accomplish  this,  a  summons  should  be  used, 
whenever  practicable. 

The  probation  officer  usually  has  a  large  discretion 
in  determining  what  constitutes  a  violation  of  probation 
or  parole.  The  practice  in  this  particular  differs  greatly 
in  different  courts.  Wherever  the  judge  has  made 
specific  conditions  of  probation,  as  for  instance,  that  a 
repetition  of  a  boy's  original  offense  requires  his  return 
to  the  court,  the  probation  officer,  of  course,  has  no  dis- 
cretion. Many  judges  in  putting  a  child  on  probation 
fix  definite  conditions,  naming  acts  which  in  themselves 
will  constitute  a  violation  of  probation.  This  gives  the 
probation  officer  less  latitude  in  working  out  the  problems 
presented  by  the  case  along  the  broad  general  lines  of  the 
child's  welfare  and  development.  With  efficient  proba- 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

tion  officers,  little  can  be  gained  by  a  judge's  making 
specific  conditions  of  probation  which  may  or  may  not 
promote  the  child's  welfare. 

The  fundamental  idea  of  probation  suggests  that  the 
probation  officer  is  to  be  the  representative  of  the  court 
in  working  out  that  purpose  and,  therefore,  in  judging 
when  the  process  has  proven  inefficient.  To  be  sure,  the 
court  may  check  up  each  child  from  time  to  time  to  dis- 
cover how  far  probation  is  bringing  results,  but  that  is 
possible  only  in  a  court  with  comparatively  few  cases. 
The  different  probation  officers  really  have  to  determine 
for  themselves  the  question  of  the  success  or  failure  of 
probation  in  each  case. 

If  a  child  steals,  or  runs  away,  or  plays  truant,  it  may 
or  may  not  be  a  "  violation  of  probation,"  in  the  sense 
that  such  act  requires  his  return  to  court.  Since  delin- 
quency, after  all,  is  not  an  offense,  but  a  habit  of  life, 
the  test  of  probation  is  not  a  specific  violation  of  the 
code  of  right  conduct,  but  a  more  or  less  habitual  viola- 
tion of  that  code.  If  a  child  does  better  on  probation 
than  he  did  before  he  was  brought  into  court,  although 
he  may  still  offend  frequently,  probation  is  succeeding. 
That  is  true  too  of  conditions  surrounding  neglected 
children,  in  which  the  probation  officer  has  to  exercise  the 
same  discretion. 

CONDITIONS    OF    PROBATION 

One  of  the  natural  consequences  of  such  latitude  of 
action  on  the  part  of  the  probation  officer  is  the  power 
to  make  conditions  of  probation.  This  often  becomes  a 
very  delicate  function,  for  it  involves  the  liberty  not  only 

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Probation 

of  the  child,  but  of  its  family.  For  instance,  the  proba- 
tion officer  may  recommend  that  a  family  move  from 
the  neighborhood  in  which  it  lives  to  one  better  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  child,  and  may  push  such  a  request 
by  requiring  the  child's  return  to  court  if  they  do  not 
comply.  Wise  and  sympathetic  probation  officers,  how- 
ever, will  use  such  power  discreetly,  and  the  families 
of  their  wards  will  usually  meet  such  suggestions  with 
appreciation.  It  is  true,  after  all,  that  a  friendly  rela- 
tion is  the  chief  test  of  a  probation  officer's  work.  If  that 
relation  exists,  practically  no  suggestion  will  be  resented. 

A  probation  officer  is  often  called  upon  to  prohibit 
a  child's  selling  papers ;  to  advise  when  a  child  should 
leave  school  and  go  to  work;  to  determine  whether  a 
child  shall  make  reports  at  court  or  be  supervised  entirely 
by  visits;  to  advise  whether  he  shall  go  to  the  country 
for  the  summer.  Indeed,  the  duties  of  the  probation 
officer  cover  practically  every  activity  of  a  child's  life. 

In  cases  of  a  difference  of  opinion  between  a  family  and 
an  officer,  or  in  the  case  of  a  very  important  decision,  the 
best  course  is  to  take  the  case  to  court,  or  at  least  to  get 
the  sanction  of  the  judge  before  acting.  Such  serious 
questions  as  changing  from  school  to  work,  or  sending 
a  child  away  temporarily  to  relatives,  should  be  brought 
to  court  whenever  there  is  the  slightest  doubt  or  disagree- 
ment. 

It  is,  of  course,  the  duty  of  the  probation  officer,  in 
every  case,  to  get  into  intimate  contact  with  the  child, 
its  family,  and  every  -factor  which  goes  to  make  up  its 
life.  No  probation  officer  can  be  counted  successful  who 
loses  track  of  cases,  or  fails  to  visit  or  see  children  at 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

reasonably  frequent  intervals.  Superficial  probation 
work,  which  comes  with  too  great  burdens,  is  only  too 
common  in  our  juvenile  courts.  Far  too  seldom  does 
the  probation  officer  have  the  number  of  children  and  the 
number  of  duties  which  permit  of  adequate  and  pains- 
taking care  of  each  case.  The  probation  officer  has  not 
only  the  duty  of  keeping  in  touch  with  each  case,  but  of 
keeping  in  touch  with  it  constructively  —  that  is,  of 
thinking  out  and  planning  for  every  child  a  course  of 
treatment  intended  to  bring  it  into  thoroughly  good  habits 
and  favorable  conditions  of  life. 

SECTION  4.     ORGANIZATION  OF  PROBATION  WORK 

There  are  two  distinct  methods  of  conducting  proba- 
tion work.  The  first  exists  in  those  courts  in  which  the 
judge  gives  practically  all  his  time,  and  in  which  he  does 
much  more  work  than  pass  upon  the  cases  at  hearings. 
In  such  courts  the  probation  officer  is  virtually  the  "  right 
hand  of  the  court  "  and  the  judge  is  virtually  the  director 
of  the  probation  work.  In  addition  to  hearing  the  cases, 
he  has  the  children  report  to  him  after  they  are  placed 
on  probation.  The  probation  officers  make  the  investiga- 
tions of  school,  neighborhood  and  home,  and  the  judge 
uses  them  as  the  basis  for  his  personal  relation  with  the 
child  itself.  Under  such  a  system,  the  officers  are  di- 
rected in  practically  all  their  activities  by  the  judge  of  the 
court. 

The  other  system  is  in  vogue  in  practically  all  the 
courts  in  which  the  judge  has  other  duties,  serving  in 
the  Juvenile  Court  only  to  pass  upon  the  cases  pre- 
sented to  him.  He  usually  has  little  or  no  connection 

104 


«"*•  £3    O    £1")  O    JJ    O    —1 
Ct>    X    rt-   ^D     —  •          X-  X 

3^g«"8^gM_; 

?  3.1  S.&rl.-2.S-l 

r^  w  d  rt.  n>  3 

ri-  JJ.  3"        fj"  O    31    ° 


Probation 

with  the  actual  probation  work.  In  such  courts  (and  in 
most  of  the  large  cities,  this  is  the  type  of  court  we 
have)  the  probation  department  is  more  or  less  inde- 
pendent. In  its  detachment  it  is  almost  analogous  to  an 
institution  to  which  the  court  commits  children.  A  chief 
probation  officer  is  responsible  for  the  administration  of 
the  work  of  the  probation  office. 

Under  such  a  system  the  methods  of  organization  of 
the  probation  office  are  important.  The  chief  proba- 
tion officer  is  directly  responsible  to  the  court.  Through 
him  the  court  gives  its  orders.  Through  him  the  court 
receives  all  investigations  of  cases  at  hearings.  He  is 
responsible  for  the  work  of  his  assistants. 

THE   OFFICE   AND    THE    PUBLIC 

The  probation  office,  organized  with  a  corps  of  paid 
probation  officers,  carrying  on  the  work  of  investigation 
and  supervision  of  children  on  probation  or  parole,  is  a 
public  office  which  must  be  constantly  at  the  service  of 
the  public.  Such  offices,  usually  in  close  proximity  to  the 
court,  or  to  the  place  of  detention,  should  be  open  all 
day  long  (at  least  from  8 130  to  5  :3O  o'clock)  and  one  or 
two  evenings  of  the  week  for  working  people  who  can- 
not conduct  their  business  with  the  office  during  the  day. 

In  smaller  cities  where  there  are  only  one  or  two  proba- 
tion officers,  it  is,  of  course,  impracticable  to  keep  the 
office  open  all  day  long,  unless  there  is  a  stenographer  or 
office  assistant.  Wherever  the  office  is  not  open  at  all 
hours,  the  probation  officers  should  have  definite  hours 
rigidly  adhered  to. 

Some  probation  offices  are  confused,  disorganized,  and 

107 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

generally  unbusinesslike;  the  probation  officers  lounge 
about,  the  men  often  with  their  hats  on  or  in  their  shirt 
sleeves.  There  is  frequently  reading  of  newspapers. 
Office  hours  are  irregularly  kept.  "  Swapping  of  sto- 
ries "  is  popular,  as  well  as  smoking  and  gum  and  tobacco 
chewing.  Such  an  office  presents  a  discouraging  pros- 
pect, from  the  point  of  view  of  the  welfare  of  children. 

Every  probation  office  should  be  neat,  orderly  and 
businesslike.  It  should  be  accessible  to  the  public. 
There  should  be  one  small  waiting  room,  where  the  judge 
and  the  officers  in  interviewing  their  charges  and  others 
should  have  as  near  absolute  privacy  as  possible.  Open 
offices  in  which  everybody  can  hear  everybody  else's  busi- 
ness are  undesirable.  Loud  talking  and  lack  of  common 
courtesies  do  not  assist  in  making  the  Juvenile  Court  a 
popular  institution.  Such  conditions  do  not  harmonize 
with  the  ideals  on  which  the  court  is  based. 

Attention  and  courtesy  should  be  given  parents,  chil- 
dren and  others  in  a  probation  office,  just  as  would  be 
the  case  in  a  well  conducted  business  house,  where  success 
depends  largely  upon  the  courtesy  and  consideration  with 
which  it  treats  its  patrons.  For  instance,  one  of  the 
chief  abuses  in  juvenile  courts  and  probation  offices  is 
in  requiring  parents  and  children  to  wait  an  indefinite 
length  of  time  before  their  interview  with  the  probation 
officer  or  their  hearing  in  court.  The  time  of  every  in- 
dividual is  important. 

HOURS   OF   WORK 

Every  probation  officer  should  have  a  definite  working 
day  in  which  should  be  fixed  the  hour  at  which  he  or 

108 


Probation 

she  begins  in  the  morning;  the  amount  of  time  allowed 
for  lunch ;  the  hours  during  which  he  or  she  may  be  ex- 
pected to  be  in  the  office  and  the  hours  outside.  From 
that  schedule  there  should  be  as  little  deviation  as  possible, 
and  a  time  record  should  be  kept  by  each  officer  and 
handed  in  at  the  end  of  the  month.  But  this  does  not 
mean  on  the  other  hand  a  spirit  of  time-service  or  watch- 
ing the  clock.  An  annual  vacation  should,  of  course,  be 
allowed  each  probation  officer  and  some  allowance  of 
time  made  for  sick  leave.  No  chief  probation  officer 
should  permit  an  over-burdened  assistant  to  become  worn 
out  by  work.  It  is  better  to  insist  that  such  an  officer 
take  a  rest  with  pay  than  to  go  on  working  below  effi- 
ciency level. 

ESPRIT  DE  CORPS 

An  esprit  de  corps  should  be  cultivated  in  every  group 
of  probation  officers.  Jealousy,  gossiping,  disloyalty  or 
concealed  criticism  hurt  the  work.  In  many  probation 
offices  cooperation  is  developed  by  frequent  conferences, 
usually  weekly,  in  which  the  work  in  all  its  details  is  dis- 
cussed. The  chief  probation  officer  asks  for  frank  criti- 
cisms of  the  work,  with  suggestions  for  its  betterment. 
Such  conferences  tend  to  eliminate  all  friction  and  to 
promote  a  strong  successful  type  of  work. 


The  method  of  assigning  the  children  placed  on  pro- 
bation by  the  court  among  the  various  probation  officers 
varies  in  different  places.  Two  systems,  generally  speak- 

109 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

ing,  are  found:  (i)  the  district  system,  by  which  the 
community  is  divided  into  geographical  districts;  and 
(2)  the  individual  assignment  system,  under  which  chil- 
dren are  assigned  to  officers  on  the  basis  of  each  officer's 
qualifications  to  handle  a  particular  group  of  children. 

Under  the  district  system,  the  assignment  is  compara- 
tively simple,  for  the  chief  probation  officer  merely  as- 
signs the  child  to  the  officer  in  whose  district  he  happens 
to  live.  Under  the  other  system,  the  chief  probation 
officer  assigns  the  child  to  officers  according  to  their  per- 
sonal qualifications  to  handle  a  certain  kind  of  case. 
The  only  other  methods  in  force  are  modifications  of 
one  or  the  other  of  these,  or  a  combination  of  the  two. 

THE   SYSTEM    OF    "  INDIVIDUAL   ASSIGNMENT  " 

This  system  is  built  upon  the  idea  that  the  process  of 
probation  is  essentially  personal  and  that  it  is  necessary, 
therefore,  to  bring  the  officer  and  the  child  into  as  close 
and  sympathetic  a  relation  as  possible.  Therefore,  the 
system  naturally  prevents  the  assignment  of  girls  to  men 
officers,  or  the  assignment  of  large  boys  to  women,  or, 
where  there  is  a  considerable  colored  population,  of  col- 
ored children  to  white  officers,  or  white  children  to 
colored  officers.  It,  of  course,  also  covers  the  assign- 
ment of  foreign-speaking  families  to  officers  speaking 
their  language. 

Granted  a  corps  of  paid  probation  officers  of  approx- 
imately equal  ability,  the  natural  division  of  the  groups 
of  children  among  them  is  as  follows : 

(i)  Delinquent  Children:  The  delinquent  girls 
should  be  assigned  to  women  officers.  Delinquent  boys : 

no 


J1LOHD  T1DOR.PLAN 


Plan  for  a  Children's  Building 


Probation 

the  larger  boys  of  adolescent  age  to  men  officers,  the 
smaller  boys  principally  to  women. 

(2)  Neglected  Children:  Neglected  children  of  prac- 
tically all  ages  should  be  assigned  according  to  the  family 
problem  involved.  Men  are  usually  better  able  to  handle 
cases  in  which  the  father  is  the  difficult  factor,  and  in 
cases  in  which  for  any  reason  visits  have  to  be  made  at 
night.  In  cases  of  neglect  involving  girls,  or  cases  in 
which  the  chief  problem  is  the  mother,  women  are,  of 
course,  more  suitable. 

Especial  emphasis  is  often  placed  on  the  importance 
of  having  colored  officers  for  colored  children.  Such 
assignments  are  certainly  very  desirable,  when  efficient 
workers  can  be  obtained  —  and  there  are  excellent  colored 
probation  officers  —  but  except  for  paying  deference  to 
public  sentiment  there  is  no  greater  (if  there  is  as  great) 
reason  for  such  assignments  than  there  is  for  having 
officers  who  can  speak  the  language  of  immigrant  parents. 

These,  in  brief,  are  the  main  groups  for  assignment, 
necessitating  in  any  court  at  least  two  or  more  officers, 
according  to  the  number  of  children  to  be  cared  for. 
Even  in  a  small  city  in  which  the  full  time  of  only  one 
probation  officer  is  necessary,  it  is  better  to  secure  two 
officers  —  each  on  part  time  —  one  man  and  one  woman 
—  in  order  to  meet  the  diversity  of  cases  presented ;  or, 
if  that  arrangement  is  impracticable,  the  need  can  be  met 
through  the  assistance  of  volunteers. 

The  desirability  of  employing  a  colored  officer  naturally 
depends  on  the  number  of  colored  children  at  any  time 
under  supervision.  It  is  much  less  necessary  to  draw  the 
color  than  the  sex  line. 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

It  is  inconceivable  that  effective  probation  can  be  done 
under  a  system  whereby  men  officers  are  responsible 
for  the  training,  protection,  and  welfare  of  girls,  most 
of  whom  have  been  brought  into  court  for  offenses  against 
morals;  or,  under  a  system  where  mature  boys  with  all 
the  problems  of  young  manhood  are  under  the  super- 
vision of  women  officers. 

It  is  a  serious  reflection  on  the  intelligence  of  some  of 
our  juvenile  courts  that  men  officers  are  still  permitted 
to  supervise  delinquent  girls.  It  has  been  urged  in  de- 
fense of  the  system  that  such  courts  employ  only  "  the 
kind  of  men  who  are  big  enough  and  broad  enough  to 
act  as  the  counselors  and  guides  of  girls  as  well  as  boys." 
It  needs  but  ordinary  common  sense  drawn  from  the 
home-life  of  any  family  of  boys  and  girls  to  refute  en- 
tirely such  an  argument. 

The  system  of  individual  assignment  on  the  basis  of 
personality  is  the  only  logical  system  in  communities  in 
which  the  distances  to  be  traveled  permit  an  officer  to 
get  around  to  different  parts  of  the  city  or  county  with- 
out a  great  loss  of  time.  In  one  city,  for  instance,  no 
officer  is  allowed  to  spend  more  than  seven  or  eight  hours 
a  week  in  walking  or  on  the  street  cars.  If  an  officer's 
time  in  travel  exceeds  this,  arrangements  are  made  where- 
by cases  in  outlying  portions  of  the  city  are  transferred 
to  other  officers  who  can  cover  them  without  loss  of  time. 
This  is  very  seldom  necessary,  however,  because  the  or- 
dinary assignments  are  based  partly  on  geographical 
location  in  the  case  of  children  from  outlying  districts. 
The  assignment  of  girls  to  women  officers  of  course  is 
rigidly  adhered  to. 

114 


Probation 

THE   DISTRICT    SYSTEM    OF    ASSIGNMENT    FOR    PROBATION 
AND   SUPERVISION 

The  district  system  consists  of  a  number  of  districts 
with  one  officer  in  charge  of  each  district.  Under  this 
system  when  a  child  is  to  come  to  court,  the  officer  in 
his  district  makes  the  investigation,  appears  in  court, 
and,  if  the  child  is  put  on  probation,  receives  him  or  her 
automatically  for  supervision.  Where  there  is  only  one 
officer  to  a  district,  as  is  usually  the  case,  the  result  is 
inevitably  to  put  girls  under  the  supervision  of  men,  and 
large,  matured  boys  in  the  care  of  women;  and  colored 
children  under  white  officers  and  white  children  under 
colored  officers.  In  several  cities  the  system  has  been 
modified  somewhat  to  avoid  these  difficulties,  so  that  in 
each  district  there  is  now  usually  both  a  man  and  a 
woman  probation  officer.  The  men  take  charge  of  the 
older  boys  and  the  women  the  girls  and  neglected  chil- 
dren. The  colored  officers  take  the  colored  children  only. 

While  these  are  the  chief  disadvantages  of  the  district 
system  there  are  also  other  disadvantages  occasioned  by 
necessary  transfers  from  one  officer  to  another  as  families 
move  from  one  district  into  another.  This  is,  perhaps, 
not  serious,  because  comparatively  infrequent,  but  it  is 
an  objection  which,  of  course,  cannot  be  made  at  all  to 
the  individual  assignment  system.  In  the  three  or  four 
very  large  cities,  where  some  division  by  districts  is  a 
necessity,  the  modified  district  plan  seems  clearly  to  be 
the  more  advisable;  that  is,  to  have  at  least  two  officers 
—  a  man  and  a  woman  —  instead  of  one,  work  in  each 
district.  Under  that  system,  the  serious  objections  to 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

the  single  officer  district  system  are  done  away  with,  and 
a  closer  and  more  rational  relation  established  in  the 
assignment. 

THE    NUMBER   OF    CHILDREN   TO    EACH    OFFICER 

If  probation  is  to  succeed,  it  is  important  not  to  place 
too  great  a  number  of  children  in  charge  of  one  officer. 
There  is  hardly  a  court  in  the  country  which  does  not 
admit  that  its  officers  are  over-burdened  with  an  exces- 
sive number  of  cases.  In  most  courts,  besides  having 
children  on  probation,  the  officers  have  clerical  and  in- 
vestigating work  to  do.  Courts  should,  however,  be  so 
organized  and  equipped  that  probation  officers  have  prac- 
tically no  clerical  work  to  do,  and  investigations  should 
be  made  by  officers  especially  assigned  to  that  work. 
Officers  charged  with  the  supervision  of  children  are 
thereby  left  with  their  entire  time  to  devote  to  it.  Under 
these  conditions,  an  officer  working  eight  full  hours  a 
day,  and  not  spending  more  than  seven  or  eight  hours  a 
week  in  travel,  can  usually  look  after  75  to  100  children. 
Vigorous  officers  who  understand  their  work  easily  super- 
vise 75  children,  and  some  officers  of  extra  vigor  and 
businesslike  methods,  can  work  efficiently  with  100  chil- 
dren. Much,  however,  depends  on  the  composition  of  the 
group  in  charge  of  an  officer.  The  figure  given  averages 
the  variety  of  cases  which  come  under  supervision.  A 
large  proportion  of  neglected  children  reduces  the  num- 
ber that  can  be  handled.  The  problem  of  building  up  the 
home  of  neglected  children  requires  much  more  time.  It 
is  difficult  for  an  officer  to  supervise  at  one  time  more 
than  50  to  60  neglected  families. 

116 


Probation 

ASSIGNMENT    TO    VOLUNTEER   OFFICERS 

In  a  number  of  courts  the  work  of  probation  is  con- 
ducted chiefly  by  volunteer  probation  officers,  these  offi- 
cers being  sworn  in  by  the  judge  of  the  court  as  regular 
assistants  receiving  no  pay,  or  unofficially  helping  the 
court  without  authority  of  law.  By  volunteer  officer  is 
meant  not  the  person  who  devotes  a  large  amount  of  time 
to  the  work  and  receives  no  salary,  for  it  is  not  after  all 
the  receiving  or  not  receiving  pay  which  makes  the  differ- 
ence. The  difference  is  that  the  volunteer  officer  usually 
undertakes  the  work  of  probation  as  an  incident  to  other 
work,  while  the  paid  probation  officer  «egards  probation 
as  his  or  her  chief  business. 

The  volunteer  officer,  therefore,  is  a  comparatively  un- 
trained person  without  the  continual  daily  experience 
with  court  children  which  gives  the  paid  officer  much  of 
his  or  her  ability.  The  volunteer  system  has  been  re- 
garded in  most  communities  as  a  make-shift  precedent  to 
a  system  of  paid  officers.  In  only  one  or  two  communi- 
ties is  the  volunteer  officer  regarded  in  any  other  light. 
In  these  communities  it  is  held  that  the  volunteer  officers 
furnish  a  type  of  friendliness  and  interest  in  children 
which  a  paid  probation  officer  with  his  "  professional 
point-of-view  "  usually  does  not  possess.  Friendliness 
and  interest  in  children,  however,  are  entirely  dependent 
on  the  personal  qualifications  of  the  individual,  and  have 
little  or  nothing  to  do  with  payment  for  services.  No 
really  interested  officer  becomes  coldly  professional,  as 
the  advocates  of  the  volunteer  system  would  have  us  be- 
lieve. There  is  no  force  whatever  in  that  argument. 

117 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

From  an  administrative  standpoint,  the  use  of  volun- 
teer officers  presents  a  difficult  problem.  Difficulties  are 
met  at  once  in  enforcing  the  responsibility  of  such  officers 
to  the  court  and  in  control  over  them  by  the  court  in  the 
handling  of  children.  Some  volunteer  officers  are  easy 
to  hold  to  their  responsibilities  —  especially  such  persons 
as  school  principals,  school  teachers,  visiting  teachers, 
public  officials,  policemen,  firemen,  charity  organization 
workers,  a  settlement  head  or  a  boys'  club  leader,  many 
of  whom  are  highly  qualified  for  the  work.  Most  fre- 
quently, however,  the  volunteer  officer  is  not  trained  to 
deal  with  children,  and  can  be  held  to  definite  responsi- 
bility only  by  incessant  oversight.  Society  women,  busi- 
ness men,  students  —  all  of  whom  enter  the  work  of  the 
juvenile  court  from  motives  of  sentiment  and  interest  — 
are  too  seldom  fortified  by  any  real  knowledge  or  experi- 
ence. 

Volunteers  are  usually  an  unsupervised  (or  very 
slightly  supervised)  body  of  men  and  women  selected  by 
reason  of  their  good  intentions.  Their  work  is  not  care- 
fully followed.  Most  of  them  cannot  give  time  to  more 
than  one  or  two  children.  Their  work  is  often  inter- 
rupted by  long  absences  from  the  city  in  summer,  by 
diversions  and  cares  to  which  the  paid  officer  is  not  sub- 
ject, and  very  often  by  carelessness  or  lack  of  real  in- 
terest in  the  children  assigned  to  them.  In  consequence, 
many  children  are  lost  track  of,  and  probation  loses  in 
educational  force.  It  is  ridiculous  that  at  a  point  in 
our  social  system  at  which  children  need  the  most  care- 
ful education  and  discipline,  we  should  entertain  seri- 
ously the  proposition  of  putting  them  into  the  hands 


Probation 

of  untrained,  and  more  or  less  irresponsible  supervi- 
sors. 

Such  work  is  irregular,  unsystematic  and  difficult  of 
direction  by  the  court.  The  volunteer's  relation  with 
children  is  superficial,  and  the  methods  haphazard. 
There  might  be  satisfactory  probation  by  volunteers  if  a 
system  could  be  so  organized  that  the  court  could  direct 
them  all,  if  they  could  get  the  benefit  of  long  training  and 
continuous  experience  in  court  work,  if  they  could  get 
the  benefit  of  each  other's  experience  by  close  contact,  if 
the  point-of-view  of  the  whole  group  could  be  much  the 
same,  and  if  the  group  could  represent  a  united,  coherent 
and  intelligent  force.  We  know  no  example  of  a  volun- 
teer system  which  approximates  this  conception. 

The  use  of  volunteers  who  are  qualified  to  assist,  is 
entirely  successful  when  carefully  supervised  by  paid 
officers,  or,  in  some  cases,  by  the  court.  It  is  of  great 
benefit  when  a  group  of  probation  officers  become  over- 
crowded in  their  work,  and  of  equal,  if  not  greater,  valu-e 
in  rural  districts  where  the  paid  officers  cannot  hope  to 
cover  widely-separated  centers  of  population. 

Volunteers  to  supplement  regular  probation  officers  as 
distinguished  from  being  used  in  the  least  degree  as  a 
substitute  for  them  are  under  certain  circumstances  of 
great  value.  For  example,  a  volunteer  detailed  to  coach 
a  child  who  is  backward  in  school  or  to  give  music  les- 
sons or  boxing  lessons,  in  addition  to  the  full  service  of 
the  regular  probation  officer  and  under  his  close  super- 
vision and  control,  may  materially  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  probation  service,  not  merely  by  what  he  teaches 
—  the  teaching  serves  more  as  a  point  of  contact  or  in- 

119 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

troduction  or  entering  wedge  —  but  by  bringing  into  the 
treatment  of  the  case  an  additional,  helpful,  friendly  ele- 
ment as  different  from  what  any  probation  officer  can 
supply  as  the  element  which  is  brought  by  the  visit  of  a 
friend  to  the  patient  is  different  from  anything  supplied 
by  the  nurse,  no  matter  how  refined,  intelligent  and  con- 
genial she  may  be.  Great  care,  of  course,  must  be  taken 
to  make  volunteers  used  in  this  way  realize  fully  the 
limitations  of  their  service  and  keep  them  in  their  place. 

VALUE  OF   PRIVATE   ASSOCIATIONS   ASSISTING   THE    COURT 

What  has  been  said  about  volunteer  officers  applies,  of 
course,  to  those  volunteers  who  are  styled  "  Big 
Brothers  "  and  "  Big  Sisters."  When  a  boy  has  been 
adjudged  in  "need  of  the  guidance,  protection  and  care 
of  the  State  "  it  is  a  questionable  proposition  to  turn  him 
over  to  an  untrained  volunteer  for  a  training  which  is 
intended  to  redirect  his  course  of  life,  and  which  should 
be  even  more  thoughtfully  and  skilfully  adapted  to  his 
needs  than  the  education  of  the  school,  which  has  failed 
fully  to  guide  him. 

In  the  discussion  on  the  use  of  volunteers,  the  authors 
have  sought  to  emphasize  the  position  that  unsupervised 
volunteer  probation  service  has  not  succeeded  and  in  their 
opinion  cannot  succeed.  This  statement,  however,  should 
not  be  taken  as  applying  to  certain  forms  of  volunteer 
activity  that  have  been  of  material  assistance  to  the  court. 
Chicago  furnishes  perhaps  the  best  example  of  volunteer 
citizen  aid. 

When  the  juvenile  court  law  of  Illinois  went  into  effect 
July  i,  1899,  it  made  no  provision  for  the  salaries  of  pro- 

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Probation 

bation  officers,  nor  did  it  provide  for  any  place  of  deten- 
tion for  children,  although  it  expressly  stated  that  they 
should  not  be  confined  in  jails  or  police-stations.  A  com- 
mittee of  women,  called  the  Juvenile  Court  Committee, 
undertook  to  and  did  provide  the  money  for  the  salaries 
of  twenty-two  probation  officers,  whom  they  maintained 
for  six  years.  They  likewise  secured  and  maintained 
a  detention  home  for  this  period.  In  1905  this  committee 
was  instrumental  in  securing  the  legislation  which  placed 
probation  officers  on  the  pay-roll  of  the  county  under  civil 
service  examinations,  and  they  further  induced  the  city 
and  county  to  build  and  equip  the  present  juvenile  court 
building  and  detention  home  in  the  City  of  Chicago.  The 
committee  in  question  subsequently  became  what  is  known 
now  as  the  Juvenile  Protective  Association,  its  main  ob- 
ject being  to  decrease  the  number  of  children  brought  into 
the  Juvenile  Court,  and  through  protective  methods  to 
minimize  the  danger  which  surrounds  children.  The  as- 
sociation has  divided  the  City  of  Chicago  into  14  dis- 
tricts with  a  paid  officer  and  local  league  of  interested 
citizens  in  each  district.  It  deals  annually  with  about 
6000  children. 

As  bearing  upon  the  preventive  work  of  the  associa- 
tion, it  has  made  a  study  of  1000  girls  employed  in  fac- 
tories, offices,  department  stores,  restaurants  and  hotels. 
It  has  undertaken  a  survey  of  illegitimate  children,  of 
children  selling  newspapers,  gum  and  merchandise  upon 
the  streets,  of  the  colored  people  of  Chicago,  of  328  dance 
halls  and  606  theaters,  of  certain  outlying  beer-gardens 
and  amusement  parks  of  Chicago,  of  a  large  number  of 
bastardy  and  abandonment  cases,  and  recently  of  boys 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

between  seventeen  and  twenty-one  years  of  age  who  were 
confined  in  the  county  jail.  Through  its  efforts  the 
Mayor  of  the  City  of  Chicago  appointed  10  women  police 
officers  who  have  been  assigned  to  look  after  the  dance 
halls,  in  consequence  of  which  the  conditions  there  have 
been  greatly  improved.  The  association  has  been  a  pow- 
erful agency  in  the  development  and  maintenance  of  many 
other  social  activities,  all  of  which  touch  at  some  point 
the  work  of  the  Juvenile  Court.  It  employs  28  people, 
expending  annually  $30,000,  all  of  which  is  raised  by 
subscription. 

PODICEMEN    AS   PROBATION    OFFICERS 

In  some  communities  policemen  have  been  appointed 
probation  officers  to  supervise  children.  If  probation  is 
a  process  of  "  education  by  friendship,"  the  use  of  police- 
men is  hardly  to  be  commended.  The  police  represent 
the  idea  of  compulsion,  not  the  idea  of  education.  Very 
few  policemen  are  qualified  to  draw  out  the  finer  qualities 
of  a  child  by  friendship  and  persuasion,  and  to  reconstruct 
the  forces  which  guide  him.  For  that  reason,  the  police 
probation  officer,  even  without  his  coat  and  brass  buttons, 
cannot  be  expected  to  take  the  place  of  the  trained  proba- 
tion officer. 

TRUANT   OFFICERS   AS   PROBATION   OFFICERS 

In  some  communities,  the  truant  or  attendance  officers 
of  the  schools  have  been  appointed  probation  officers  to 
supervise  children  on  probation.  There  is  somewhat  the 
same  difficulty  in  this  as  in  the  case  of  the  police,  since 
the  truant  officers  are  commonly  looked  upon  by  children 

122 


Probation 

as  a  sort  of  children's  police  paid  to  catch  them  in  wrong- 
doing. They  usually  do  not  inspire  the  same  feeling  of 
friesdship  that  is  inspired  by  the  probation  officer  whom 
children  know,  only  after  they  get  in  trouble  as  a  solic- 
itous and  encouraging  guide. 

Perhaps  the  most  serious  objection  is  that  so  far  in 
most  cities  the  attendance  or  truant  officer  is  -trained  to 
deal  with  individuals,  not  with  families,  with  specific 
offenses  rather  than  the  conditions  which  make  for 
offenses.  The  future  development  of  the  work  of  the 
attendance  or  truant  officers  is  doubtless  to  be  along  the 
same  lines  as  that  of  the  probation  officers.  It  is  sug- 
gested that,  in  that  event,  not  only  will  attendance  and 
truant  officers  actually  do  probation  work,  but  by  cover- 
ing all  schools  thoroughly,  work  out  the  problems  of  "  odd 
children  "  so  as  to  prevent  their  cases  ever  coming  to  the 
court.  In  rural  districts  it  is  highly  desirable  to  secure 
a  skilled  worker  to  act  as  both  attendance  and  proba- 
tion officer.  There  is  no  need  of  specialization  of  func- 
tions in  small  communities. 

COURT  OFFICERS  AS  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

In  some  courts  children  are  placed  on  probation  to 
the  clerk,  sheriff,  prosecuting  attorney  or  other  officer  of 
the  court.  There  is  no  more  justification  for  such  as- 
signments, from  the  point  of  view  of  the  good  of  chil- 
dren, than  there  is  in  the  assignments  to  police  offi- 
cers. Practically  no  court  officer,  except  the  proba- 
tion officer,  represents  the  interest,  ability  or  experience 
demanded  or  has  the  time  for  the  delicate  problems  of 
the  care  of  children  on  probation. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

ASSIGNMENTS   TO    PRIVATE    SOCIETIES 

There  is  in  vogue  in  some  communities  a  system  of 
assigning  children  to  charitable  societies  or  children's 
societies  for  supervision.  In  the  case  of  responsible 
and  well-conducted  societies,  this  supervision  is  usually 
accomplished  well  by  paid  agents.  But  under  this  sys- 
tem, the  work  cannot  be  controlled  by  the  court,  is  not 
uniform,  and,  of  course,  ceases  to  be  essentially  a  func- 
tion of  the  State.  The  parent  is  obliged  to  maintain  a 
double  and  confusing  responsibility  to  a  society  and  to 
the  court.  But  one  of  the  most  objectionable  features 
is  the  fact  that  such  assignments  are  usually  made  on  the 
basis  of  religious  affiliation  —  the  Protestant  children  be- 
ing supervised  by  Protestant  societies,  the  Catholic  by 
Catholic,  and  the  Jews  by  Jewish  societies.  As  long  as 
a  child  lives  in  a  home  of  the  same  faith  as  its  parents 
(and  it  usually  lives  with  its  parents),  religious  influence 
and  education  can  be  well  provided  for  there.  Very 
often  religious  distinctions  in  the  assignment  of  children 
take  precedence  over  assignment  on  the  basis  of  sex. 

SECTION  5.     PROBATION  METHODS 

Legally,  probation  begins  when  the  judge  writes  on 
his  docket  or  notes  on  the  petition  that  a  child  adjudged 
delinquent  is  placed  on  probation,  and  notifies  the  child 
and  its  parents  that  he  is  under  the  care  of  the  probation 
office,  that  he  is  expected  to  follow  the  probation  officer's 
directions,  and  that  the  probation  officer  has  authority  to 
bring  the  child  back  again  into  court,  if  conditions  ad- 
vise it.  In  the  cases  of  neglected  children,  probation 

124 


Probation 

takes  the  form  of  supervision,  but  no  directions,  of  course, 
are  given  to  children,  although  they  may  be  given  to 
parents.  In  neglect  cases,  the  parents  are  really  on  pro- 
bation. In  this  discussion,  the  function  of  probation  is 
treated  entirely  as  applying  to  delinquent  children. 

Following  the  court  finding,  the  judge  or  probation 
officer  usually  gives  the  child  a  card  notifying  him  offi- 
cially that  he  is  on  probation,  instructing  him  to  make 
a  report  in  the  near  future,  and  naming  the  time  and 
place  of  the  first  interview  between  himself  and  the  offi- 
cer to  whom  he  is  assigned. 

The  work  of  supervising  a  child  on  probation  con- 
sists of  two  rather  distinct  functions :  first,  the  child's 
reports  in  person  to  the  probation  officer,  usually  at  the 
court  or  probation  office;  and,  second,  the  probation  offi- 
cer's visits  to  the  child's  home,  his  school,  his  employer 
and  his  neighborhood,  to  study  the  factors  of  his  daily 
life.  These  visits  are  much  the  more  important  of  the 
two  functions,  for  through  them  the  officer  learns  the 
significant  facts  from  which  spring  the  remedies  he 
seeks  to  apply  to  the  particular  problem  of  delinquency. 

The  child's  reports  at  the  court  or  probation  office, 
however,  have  a  distinct  educational  value  and  are  so 
characteristic  of  the  probation  method  that  they  are 
discussed  first. 

COLLECTIVE    REPORTING    BY    CHILDREN 

In  most  courts  in  which  the  judge  acts  also  practically 
as  chief  probation  officer,  as  well  as  in  some  courts 
where  he  does  not,  there  is  often  found  a  system  of  col- 
lective reporting;  that  is,  the  boys  assemble  together  at 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

the  court  on  a  specific  morning,  afternoon  or  evening  of 
the  week  and  are  addressed  by  the  judge  or  probation 
officer.  After  the  talk  is  concluded,  the  boys  are  often 
questioned  or  spoken  to  individually.  The  meeting  is 
in  the  nature  of  a  lesson  and  the  boys  are  dismissed  to 
come  together  again  at  a  later  day.  In  one  court,  for 
instance,  the  boys  came  to  see  the  probation  officer  at 
his  office  "  socially."  They  were  encouraged  to  play 
games  and  make  themselves  at  home,  so  that  many  other 
than  court  boys  came.  A  regular  boys'  club  was  estab- 
lished at  the  court  with  probation  as  the  reason  for  its 
existence.  Any  such  features  should  be  discouraged,  be- 
cause it  creates  an  entirely  false  idea  of  the  court's  pur- 
pose or  methods.  It  hardly  seems  as  if  collective  pro- 
bation could  have  any  real  value  in  the  light  of  the  clear 
need  of  treating  each  child  individually.  Children  with 
widely-varying  individual  needs  must  be  helped  by  well- 
studied  and  well-thought-out  methods,  differing  as  the 
needs  differ.  Collective  probation  can  never  reach  the 
individual  child  as  does  a  method  by  which  he  is  brought 
into  close,  personal  and  sympathetic  contact  with  an 
officer  of  the  court. 

THE   INDIVIDUAL   REPORT 

Of  course,  the  contact  of  the  child  and  officer  in  the 
limited  time  of  a  report  is  more  or  less  superficial,  and 
so  far  as  an  actual  knowledge  of  a  boy's  habits  can  be 
obtained,  is  much  less  satisfactory  than  a  visit  to  his  home 
and  neighborhood.  As  a  part  of  the  careful,  scientific 
working  out  of  a  child's  troubles  it  is  unessential.  How- 
ever, it  inspires  in  a  boy  the  feeling  that  he  is  obligated  at 

126 


Probation 

a  definite  time  and  place  to  account  for  his  conduct  to  a 
person  who  he  knows  has  the  authority  to  hold  him  ac- 
countable for  wrong-doing,  and  a  person,  too,  who  he 
knows  has  his  welfare  at  heart,  and  who  would  prefer 
anything  to  seeing  him  do  wrong.  The  chief  justifica- 
tion for  the  reporting  system  is,  therefore,  the  feeling  of 
obligation  and  responsibility  it  develops  in  a  boy's  char- 
acter. The  boy  gains  more  by  making  the  effort  to  go 
to  the  probation  officer  than  if  the  probation  officer  al- 
ways came  to  him.  The  right  frame  of  mind  for  the  boy 
is  that  he  should  seek  the  probation  officer  —  not  have 
the  probation  officer  seek  him. 

It  is  difficult,  however,  to  instil  such  a  conception  of 
responsibility  into  the  minds  of  little  boys.  It  is,  there- 
fore, inadvisable  to  adopt  the  reporting  system  for  boys 
tinder  nine  or  ten  years  of  age.  For  the  same  reason  it 
is  inadvisable  to  require  children  who  are  mentally  defec- 
tive even  to  a  slight  degree  to  report.  In  the  case  of  girls, 
the  reporting  system  can  be  of  practically  no  value.  In- 
deed it  would  likely  be  positively  harmful  in  most  cases 
for  it  would  bring  girls  alone  from  their  homes  through 
the  streets  on  foot  or  in  a  street  car  to  a  public  office,  and 
in  so  doing  afford  them  many  chances  of  forming  doubt- 
ful associations.  The  older  boys,  therefore,  are  alone 
much  benefited  by  the  reporting  system. 

Under  the  district  system  in  the  larger  cities,  reports 
are  usually  made  at  some  designated  place  in  each  district. 
In  smaller  communities,  where  the  district  system  does 
not  obtain,  reports  can  be  most  conveniently  received  at 
the  probation  office  itself.  Reports  should  never  be  made 
at  police  stations  or  in  the  vicinity  of  a  criminal  court 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

building  where  children  would  come  into  contact  with 
an  undesirable  class  of  adults,  or  at  any  other  place  where 
the  influences  are  not  the  best.  Very  often  reports  are 
made  in  company  with  one  or  both  of  the  child's  parents, 
when  the  probation  officer  finds  it  necessary  to  have  an 
interview  with  a  child  and  his  parents  away  from  home. 

Occasionally  probation  officers  allow  children  to  come 
to  see  them  at  their  homes.  In  exceptional  circum- 
stances, this  may  be  allowable,  but  it  should  not  become 
a  regular  place  of  meeting  probationers.  As  in  other 
matters  of  methods,  no  hard  and  fast  rule  can  be  laid 
down;  much  must  be  left  to  the  wise  discretion  of  each 
officer. 

THE    CHARACTER    OF    THE    REPORT 

When  a  school  child  reports  he  is  usually  required  to 
bring  with  him  some  evidence  of  conduct.  That  evi- 
dence usually  takes  the  form  of  a  card  from  the  school 
teacher  or  principal  with  a  statement  of  attendance,  con- 
duct and  scholarship.  There  is  often  also  a  written  re- 
port on  a  card-form  from  one  of  the  child's  parents, 
stating  his  or  her  observations  as  to  the  child's  conduct. 
In  one  court  where  this  system  is  followed,  both  these 
cards  are  required  with  practically  every  report.  They 
are  noted,  stamped  "  received,"  and  signed  by  the  pro- 
bation officer,  and  the  child  asked  to  return  them  to  his 
parents  and  school  teacher  to  show  that  the  probation 
officer  had  received  them  and  noted  them.  Any  return 
message  to  parents  or  teachers  is  also  written  on  the  card. 
Thus,  with  a  very  large  number  of  children,  it  is  possible 
for  over-burdened  officers  at  least  to  keep  the  contact 

128 


Probation 

between  school,  home  and  probation  officer  fairly  close, 
and  to  assure  the  school  and  home  that  the  child  has  made 
his  report  and  kept  in  touch  with  his  probation  officer. 
But  even  the  very  best  reporting  system  is  not  to  be  con- 
sidered in  any  degree  a  substitute  for  visits  to  home, 
school  and  neighborhood.  It  is  at  best  only  a  supple- 
ment to  these  visits. 

PARENTS'  REPORTS 

The  parents'  reports  do  not  usually  contain  informa- 
tion of  much  value,  but  are  a  means  of  keeping  parents 
in  close  touch  with  the  probation  officer,  and  of  making 
them  feel  a  much  more  personal  interest  in  probation. 
A  parent  who  writes  to  the  probation  officer  every  time 
the  child  makes  a  report,  feels  that  he  or  she  is  helping 
the  court  in  solving  the  child's  problems.  In  other  cir- 
cumstances, the  parents  feel  that  the  court  is  helping 
them  with  their  children,  and  the  exchange  of  a  few 
written  words  serves  to  keep  the  relation  close.  It  serves 
also  the  much  larger  purpose  of  impressing  upon  the 
child's  mind  the  fact  that  the  court  and  home  go  hand  in 
hand,  that  the  court  jointly  with  the  father  and  mother 
is  working  to  make  things  go  right.  The  child  should 
be  conscious  of  unity  of  action  between  parents  and  the 
court. 

SCHOOL   REPORTS 

The  use  of  school  reports  has  often  been  criticized  on 
the  ground  that  the  teachers  do  not,  as  a  rule,  take  a 
really  personal  interest  in  exceptional  children,  and  their 
reports  are,  therefore,  perfunctory.  It  is  objected  also 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

that  many  teachers  carelessly  spread  through  the  school 
the  fact  that  a  particular  boy  is  a  "  Juvenile  Court  boy," 
and  hold  him  up  as  an  example.  The  experience  of  most 
juvenile  courts  does  not  bear  out  these  objections,  and 
demonstrates  on  the  contrary  that  school  teachers,  as  a 
rule,  are  discreet  in  such  matters  and  take  exceptional 
interest  in  court  children  who  need  special  attention. 
Their  reports  are  probably  the  most  helpful  which  come 
to  probation  officers.  In  exceptional  cases  where  the 
teacher  does  not  show  a  helpful  interest,  arrangement  can 
usually  be  made  either  for  a  transfer  to  another  teacher 
or  another  school,  or  for  reports  through  the  principal. 

EMPLOYERS'  REPORTS 

Some  juvenile  courts  have  adopted  a  system  of  reports 
from  the  employers  of  children  who  are  wards  of  the 
court.  This  has  been  found  to  be  a  very  questionable 
practice.  Employers  become  annoyed  and  often  dis- 
charge a  child  who  may  not  be  satisfactory.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  arouse  the  interest  of  employers  in  the  work  that 
the  juvenile  court  is  trying  to  do,  and  reports  from  them 
are  usually  of  less  value  than  reports  from  school  or 
home.  It  is  only  in  exceptional  cases,  and  then  chiefly 
in  those  in  which  the  employer  has  been  interested  in  the 
child  before  giving  him  employment,  that  such  reports 
are  valuable. 

OTHER   REPORTS 

In  some  communities,  reports  from  Sunday  School 
teachers  or  clergymen  are  received  at  the  probation  office. 
Most  Sunday  School  teachers  or  clergymen  do  not  come 

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Probation 

into  close  enough  contact  with  their  charges  to  know  how 
they  are  really  doing,  and  the  reports,  therefore,  are  of 
little  value.  In  the  infrequent  cases  in  which  the  contact 
of  a  Sunday  School  teacher  or  clergyman  with  a  child  is 
continuous  and  close,  their  reports  are,  of  course,  of 
great  assistance.  No  extensive  system  of  reports,  how- 
ever, from  churches  or  Sunday  Schools  is  likely  to  assist 
materially  in  the  work  of  supervision.  Personal  coopera- 
tion in  a  given  neighborhood  between  probation  officers 
and  clergymen  or  priests  is  more  likely  to  be  fruitful. 

THE   INTERVIEW    AT    THE   TIME   OF   THE   REPORT 

Granting  the  usefulness  of  a  child's  making  a  report 
at  all,  and  the  usefulness  of  these  various  kinds  of  re- 
ports, the  question  naturally  arises  as  to  what  sort  of 
interview  is  most  effective  at  the  time  of  the  report. 
It  is  essential,  first,  that  the  child  should  make  his  report 
to  the  officer  alone  and  that  no  other  officer  or  children 
should  be  within  hearing  distance.  There  should  be  no 
hurry  about  it;  it  should  be  an  easy,  personal,  confidential 
talk,  not  so  long  as  to  tire  either  the  officer  or  the  child, 
nor  so  short  that  the  child  is  not  impressed  with  the 
thoroughness  and  the  deep  interest  of  his  probation 
officer.  Ten  to  twenty  minutes  is  a  reasonable  length 
of  time  for  the  purpose.  Sometimes  the  business  can  be 
completed  in  five  minutes,  and  on  occasions  it  may  have 
to  be  extended  to  an  hour. 

Privacy  and  informality  are  the  first  essentials  to  suc- 
cess. The  officer  should  usually  begin  with  commonplace 
inquiries.  Thus  he  gets  the  child  to  talking  easily,  tell- 
ing of  things  in  which  he  is  interested,  perhaps  speaking 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

of  his  pets,  or  of  the  last  ball-game,  or  what  the  "  kids  " 
did  Sunday,  or  how  he  likes  his  new  teacher.  From  that 
he  goes  on  to  an  examination  of  the  reports,  together 
with  more  intimate  questions  about  the  situation  at  home, 
about  affairs  at  school,  about  the  exact  manner  in  which 
evenings,  spare  time  and  Sundays  have  been  spent,  thus 
accounting  in  a  quiet,  confidential,  friendly  way  for  all 
the  facts  of  the  child's  life  in  the  period  intervening  be- 
tween reports. 

When  reports  are  satisfactory,  there  should  be  com- 
mendation. In  any  case,  directions  should  be  given  as 
to  what  is  to  be  done  before  the  next  report.  The  suc- 
cessful probation  officer  does  not  "  preach  "  to  a  child 
at  this  time.  He  devotes  very  little  of  the  interview  to 
talking  himself,  but  most  to  drawing  out  the  child  and 
getting  him  to  do  the  talking.  In  this  way,  the  officer 
gets  an  idea  of  the  child's  progress  and  environment,  by 
which  he  can  formulate  his  remedies.  The  success  of 
the  interview  depends  largely  on  the  child's  looking  to 
improved  conduct  —  the  personal  inspiration  of  the 
officer  as  friend  and  guide. 

In  some  courts  the  report  is  accompanied  by  certain 
definite  tasks.  For  instance,  boys  who  have  violated  cer- 
tain municipal  ordinances,  have  to  report  with  copies  of 
the  ordinance  written  out  a  certain  number  of  times. 
Such  tasks  may  serve  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of 
the  child  the  nature  of  the  law  violated,  and  in  certain 
well-selected  cases  doubtless  have  helpful  results. 


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Probation 

FREQUENCY    OF    REPORTS 

The  frequency  of  a  child's  reports  should  be  regulated 
by  his  conduct  and  progress.  There  is  no  real  need  for 
establishing  fixed  intervals,  as  is  done  in  many  courts 
where  probationers  report  every  Saturday  or  every 
Thursday  during  the  period  of  their  probation.  Prac- 
tically all  successful  systems  of  probation  are  indeter- 
minate —  that  is,  they  last  just  as  long  as  a  child  needs 
to  be  supervised,  and  the  amount  of  supervision  depends 
on  the  need  of  the  individual  child.  Thus  some  boys 
may  need  to  report  or  see  their  probation  officer  every 
day,  others  may  require  it  only  once  a  week,  or  once  in 
every  two  weeks.  A  boy  who  needs  probation  at  all 
needs  to  see  his  officer  at  least  once  a  month,  even  toward 
the  end  of  a  successful  probationary  period. 

If  a  child  does  well  the  frequency  of  reports  can  be 
gradually  diminished,  until  after  observation  the  officer 
is  assured  that  the  child  has  been  cured  of  his  delin- 
quency, and  he  may  be  discharged  from  probation  by  the 
court.  A  fresh  delinquency  may,  of  course,  break  out 
later  or  a  state  of  delinquency  set  in.  A  new  period  of 
probation  would  then  have  to  be  established,  and  the 
process  repeated. 

IRREGULARITIES   IN    REPORTS 

What  has  been  said  about  reports  is  based  on  the  as- 
sumption that  they  are  actually  made.  The  chief  diffi- 
culty, however,  in  most  courts  is  that  many  children  fail 
to  make  them.  These  irregularities  present  many  diffi- 
culties. If  the  boy  fails  to  appear  on  the  expected  day, 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

usually  a  post-card  or  some  other  form  of  notice  should 
be  sent  him  the  same  day,  giving  him  one  or  two  days 
in  which  to  appear.  If  he  then  fails  the  probation  officer 
should  go  to  his  home  and  find  out  what  the  trouble  is, 
or  if  it  is  possible  to  get  in  touch  with  him  by  telephone, 
ascertain  the  difficulty  at  once  by  that  method.  It  is 
essential  that  a  failure  to  report  should  be  followed  up 
immediately  by  some  form  of  notice  by  means  of  which 
the  officer  will  get  in  immediate  touch  with  the  child, 
because  the  most  serious  situations  naturally  arise  at  such 
times  as  children  fail  to  report.  In  the  case  of  for- 
getful children,  greater  frequency  of  reporting  will  gen- 
erally bring  them  to  a  recognition  of  its  importance. 
Boys  are  frequently  obstinate  and  refuse  to  report,  or 
are  wilfully  neglectful.  When  a  probation  officer  has 
exhausted  his  resources  in  an  endeavor  to  persuade  him 
to  come,  the  chief  probation  officer  or  judge  should  be 
notified,  that  he  may  use  his  efforts  on  parent  and  child 
to  secure  compliance.  If  even  then  it  is  impossible  to 
get  the  child  to  report  regularly,  there  should  be  a  court 
hearing  for  violation  of  probation.  A  failure  to  reach 
a  child  at  all  is  a  sure  indication  that  the  question  of 
terminating  probation  should  be  considered  by  the 
court. 

SECTION  6.     VISITS  TO  THE  HOME,  SCHOOL,  CHURCH, 
AND  NEIGHBORHOOD 

THE  USE  OF  VISITS  IN  PROBATION 
The  influences  which  a  probation  officer  brings  to  bear 
on   a   child   in    its   own -home   and   neighborhood    are 
ordinarily  of  much  greater  importance  than  the  influence 


Probation 

of  personal  reporting  to  the  officer.  In  fully  half,  if  not 
more,  of  the  cases  handled  by  a  probation  office,  the 
work  of  supervision  and  direction  has  to  be  entirely  done 
through  visits  to  the  home  and  neighborhood.  The  re- 
porting system  is  not  adapted  to  little  boys,  neglected 
and  dependent  children,  or  girls,  and  their  supervision 
must  be  accomplished  entirely  by  visits  to  the  home, 
school  and  neighborhood. 

On  the  other  hand  in  the  cases  of  certain  delinquent 
boys  old  enough  to  report  with  profit  to  the  probation 
officer,  the  visit  is  unnecessary.  Such  are  boys  whose 
home  conditions  are  excellent,  but  whose  personal  conduct 
has  to  be  supervised, —  most  easily,  of  course,  through  the 
reporting  system.  For  instance,  the  court  may  have  dis- 
posed .of  the  case  of  a  boy  speeding  an  automobile  by 
prohibiting  his  using  an  automobile  for  six  months  or  a 
year,  and  placing  him  under  probation  for  the  purpose  of 
seeing  that  the  condition  is  carried  out.  In  such  an  in- 
stance, the  visit  is  of  no  consequence,  because  no  social 
factors  are  involved  in  this  delinquency.  These,  however, 
are  not  cases  of  real  probation,  with  its  social  and  educa- 
tional processes  of  reconstruction. 

FREQUENCY   OF   VISITS 

The  frequency  with  which  the  probation  officer  should 
visit  his  or  her  charge  depends  on  the  seriousness  and 
necessities  of  the  case.  Some  may  need  attention  every 
day  for  a  time,  and  others  after  being  set  straight  may 
not  need  a  visit  oftener  than  once  a  month.  Under  either 
the  district  or  individual  assignment  system,  officers  nat- 
urally group  their  cases  largely  according  to  locality,  in 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

order  to  visit  those  nearest  together  with  the  least  pos- 
sible loss  of  time. 

WHO    SHOULD    BE   SEEN 

) 

Visits  should,  of  course,  be  entirely  unannounced,  un- 
less there  is  some  special  reason  for  seeing  a  member  of 
a  family,  who  is  not  likely  otherwise  to  be  at  home. 
When  the  father  has  to  be  seen,  for  instance,  it  is  often 
necessary  to  appoint  a  time  in  the  evening  or  on  Saturday 
afternoon  or  Sunday. 

Many  probation  officers  fail  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  the  fathers  of  the  children  in  their  care  during  the 
whole  period  of  probation.  It  is  generally  a  little  diffi- 
cult to  get  in  touch  with  a  father,  but  he  is  often  the  key 
to  the  whole  problem.  Probation  officers  should  make  an 
effort  to  have  at  least  an  acquaintance  with  the  father  of 
every  child  in  their' care,  whether  or  not  that  acquaint- 
ance can  be  carefully  followed  up  by  close  cooperation 
with  him. 

In  dealing  with  cases  of  delinquency,  it  is  necessary  on 
practically  every  visit  to  see  the  child,  because  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  probation  officer  is  a  very  impor- 
tant factor.  In  cases  of  neglect  and  destitution,  the  child 
usually  needs  least  personal  attention.  With  this  dif- 
ference, however,  the  character  of  work  in  the  home  and 
the  neighborhood  in  the  cases  of  both  neglected  and  de- 
linquent children  should  be  practically  the  same. 

The  usual  home  visit  is  intended  to  get  information  as 
to  how  affairs  have  been  going  in  the  child's  home; 
what  the  actual  conditions  are,  and  in  case  of  a  delin- 
quent child,  what  its  conduct  has  been.  In  dealing  with 

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Probation 

delinquent  children,  the  emphasis  of  the  work  is  rather 
on  assisting  the  parents  in  bringing  up  their  children; 
while  in  dealing  with  neglected  children,  it  is  rather  on 
assisting  the  children  to  better  care  by  their  parents. 
The  home  is  usually  the  chief  concern  in  the  one  case, 
the  child  in  the  other.  Of  course,  it  is  impossible  to  draw 
any  hard  and  fast  line,  because  there  are  many  cases 
combining  both  delinquency  and  neglect,  where  home 
and  the  personal  conduct  of  the  child  are  of  equal  con- 
cern. 

In  getting  information  from  either  parents  or  chil- 
dren, it  is  not  wise  policy  for  probation  officers  to  con- 
duct their  inquiries  in  the  presence  of  children.  This 
practice  tends  to  lessen  respect  for  parents.  It  often 
gives  children  a  knowledge  of  facts  which  it  is  not  well 
for  them  to  have. 

Besides  ascertaining  conditions,  the  probation  officer 
usually  also  makes  certain  suggestions,  and  outlines  cer- 
tain lines  of  conduct  in  the  case  of  delinquent  children. 
The  visit,  therefore,  consists  of  two  factors:  (i)  se- 
curing information;  (2)  the  plan  of  guidance  based  on 
that  information. 

SECURING   INFORMATION 

Information  should  be  secured  in  most  cases  directly 
from  the  parent.  The  general  appearance  of  the  home 
should  be  taken  into  consideration.  Delinquent  children 
should  be  interviewed  either  at  home,  if  the  visit  is  made 
out  of  school  or  working  hours,  or,  if  necessary,  at  the 
school,  and  in  some  cases  at  the  place  of  employment. 
The  place  of  employment  is  usually  at  a  considerable  dis- 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

tance  from  home  and,  therefore,  is  not  ordinarily  a 
factor  in  the  home  and  neighborhood  visit. 

In  some  cases  when  adequate  information  cannot  be 
secured  from  the  family,  it  is  helpful  to  question  reliable 
neighbors,  shop-keepers,  or  the  police.  Such  inquiries, 
however,  need  to  be  made  with  the  greatest  care,  in  order 
to  avoid  arousing  the  hostility  of  the  family  to  the  pro- 
bation officer.  Neighborhood  investigations  are  only  too 
often  made  in  an  unwise  and  tactless  way  by  probation 
officers  who  forget  that  their  real  strength  lies  not  in 
the  power  which  the  court  has  over  parents  and  chil- 
dren, but  in  the  use  of  the  same  human  qualities  which 
characterize  helpful  relations  between  people  generally. 
The  power  of  the  court  and  the  law  behind  the 
probation  officer  is  recognized  easily  enough  by  par- 
ents and  children,  without  parading  it  officially  before 
them. 

In  the  case  of  school  children,  it  usually  pays  in  time 
and  results  to  combine  the  visit  to  the  home  with  a  visit 
to  the  school,  generally  nearby.  At  the  school  the  pro- 
bation officer  should,  of  course,  see  the  teacher  in  im- 
mediate charge  of  the  child  and  should  see  both  her  and 
the  child  privately  so  as  not  to  single  out  court  children 
before  the  others.  For  tJiat  reason  it  is  always  a  bad 
practice  for  a  probation  officer  to  enter  a  school-room. 
In  cities  where  the  schools  have  telephone  systems,  part 
of  this  supervision  can  be  accomplished  by  telephone 
communication  with  the  principal  or  teacher. 

The  knowledge  that  a  child  is  a  ward  of  the  court 
should  be  confined  to  as  few  persons  as  possible.  It  is 
always  a  handicap,  open  to  all  kinds  of  misconception  and 

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Probation 

misconstruction.     Most  children  are  sensitive  on  the  sub- 
ject themselves. 

UTILIZING   INFORMATION 

To  utilize  information  skilfully  in  the  constructive 
work  of  probation  demands  long  training  and  experience 
on  the  part  of  the  probation  officer.  This  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  probation  officer's  work.  It  is  the 
physician's  prescription  following  diagnosis.  It  presup- 
poses tact,  discretion,  patience,  and,  above  all,  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  manifold  ways  in  which  to  meet  ad- 
verse social  conditions  in  a  modern  community.  In  every 
case  the  probation  officer  should  work  out  in  advance  a 
plan  to  be  followed  in  bringing  a  particular  case  to  a  suc- 
cessful conclusion,  and  weaning  it  from  the  necessity  for 
supervision  and  direction.  With  this  general  policy  in 
mind  and  with  the  goal  clear,  the  information  secured 
in  each  case  will  naturally  suggest  from  time  to  time  the 
details.  It  is  usually  advisable  to  make  simple  sugges- 
tions, a  few  at  a  time,  but  frequently.  Exhaustive  in- 
structions to  parents  or  children  are  easily  forgotten. 
The  fewer  "  instructions  "  the  better.  Friendly  sugges- 
tions made  clear  and  their  wisdom  acknowledged  con- 
stitute the  right  method. 

In  some  cases,  the  probation  officer  has  to  consult  with 
many  persons  who  reach  the  child  outside  the  home.  Cer- 
tain points  have  to  be  emphasized  at  school,  the  police 
in  the  neighborhood  may  be  asked  to  keep  an  eye  out, 
particularly  when  a  child  is  one  of  a  gang;  the  play- 
ground instructor  has  to  be  seen,  to  make  sure  a  child 
comes  with  regularity  and  gets  a  little  extra  attention 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

each  day.  In  many  cases  a  settlement  nearby  can  be 
enlisted  to  see  that  our  Johnnie's  particular  needs  outside 
of  school  are  met  through  a  boy's  club.  Relations  with 
church  and  Sunday-School  may  be  established.  The 
public  library  or  its  branches  afford  another  means  of 
helpful  contact,  especially  where  there  are  rooms  under 
the  charge  of  children's  directors,  who  will  take  a  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  needs  of  special  children. 

It  is  in  this  relation  to  other  agencies  that  the  proba- 
tion officer  finds  the  greatest  help.  This  is  true  of  both 
general  community  agencies  like  those  just  outlined,  or 
special  agencies  for  particular  troubles.  The  tuber- 
culosis society  may  be  interested  in  the  family,  a  relief 
society  may  be  giving  aid.  Where  several  agencies  are 
helping,  it  is  essential  that  the  work  should  be  closely 
related,  and  each  worker's  part  made  clear.  This  pre- 
supposes some  formal  organization  such  as  is  character- 
istic of  well-organized  charity  organization  societies. 
In  the  first  instance  there  should  be  a  registration  of  all 
families  at  a  central  office,  and  then  a  confidential  ex- 
change of  information  in  regard  to  families  helped  by 
two  or  more  agencies. 

This  secured,  the  representatives  of  the  different 
agencies  interested  should  come  together  to  determine  a 
constructive  plan  of  work.  Wherever  organized  registra- 
tion of  families  does  not  exist,  the  probation  officer  should 
lead  in  bringing  together  the  other  interested  agencies  to 
work  out  a  plan  for  a  given  family.  A  large  part  of  a 
probation  officer's  work,  particularly  in  cases  of  neglect, 
is  the  focussing  of  all  the  social  forces  in  the  community 
upon  the  cases  in  his  or  her  care. 

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Probation 

Many  probation  officers  undertake  a  great  deal  too 
much  work  themselves.  Where  they  see  distress  and 
need  they  are  too  likely  to  attempt  to  meet  it  without 
reference  to  other  agencies.  There  are  many  instances 
of  probation  officers  raising  funds  to  assist  families;  of 
busying  themselves  with  getting  jobs  for  members  of  the 
family  not  in  their  care,  securing  nurses  and  physicians 
in  cases  of  sickness,  all  at  a  sacrifice  of  their  proper 
work.  Such  needs  should  be  referred  to  constituted 
agencies  for  solution. 

But  there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule.  Sometimes  a 
probation  officer  can  win  the  confidence  of  a  family  by 
doing  just  such  a  good  turn  as  this,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  a  sympathetic  hold  on  the  family,  he  is  en- 
tirely justified.  But  every  probation  officer  in  the  coun- 
try is  enough  occupied  with  the  immediate  work  of  the 
court  to  keep  busy  all  the  time.  Instead  of  assuming 
unnecessary  burdens,  officers  should  be  always  on  the 
alert  to  call  to  their  aid  every  constructive  agency  in 
the  community.  The  probation  officer  can  do  a  great 
deal  to  strengthen  these  agencies  by  constantly  point- 
ing out  the  needs  which  they  should  meet.  The  court 
is  weakened  when  probation  officers  themselves  do 
work  which  appropriately  belongs  to  other  organiza- 
tions. 

There  is,  however,  a  related  but  quite  different  function 
for  the  probation  officer  in  bringing  delinquent  children 
particularly  in  touch  \vith  various  agencies  of  the  com- 
munity. For  instance,  a  boy  may  be  frequently  away 
from  home  evenings  on  the  streets,  difficult  to  interest 
in  anything  at  home.  He  usually,  however,  can  be 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

aroused  to  an  interest  in  "  blood  and  thunder  stories," 
and  by  beginning  with  some  fairly  yellow  sample  of  boy 
literature,  he  can  be  led  on  gradually  from  the  more  un- 
desirable stories  of  adventure  to  those  of  an  entirely  legit- 
imate character.  As  his  interest  grows,  a  library  card 
can  be  secured  for  him,  and  he  can  be  developed  into  a 
regular  patron  of  the  public  library. 

There  is  the  problem  of  the  working  boy  who  is  spend- 
ing his  money  on  foolish  amusements  and  useless  trifles. 
He  can  be  aroused  to  desire  things  of  lasting  value  that 
cost  money  —  a  bicycle,  for  instance.  But  he  must  have 
some  definite  means  for  saving.  Thus  the  probation 
officer  might  introduce  him  to  the  United  States  Postal 
Savings  Bank,  or  arrange  with  other  savings  banks  for 
starting  such  accounts. 

An  effective  way  to  get  at  a  boy  is  to  know  his  com- 
panions. Some  probation  officers  make  a  business  of 
knowing  their  probationers'  friends,  and  in  a  friendly 
way  develop  the  activities  of  the  whole  group.  When 
boys  are  tied  to  a  gang  —  an  almost  inseparable  unit  — 
this  method  of  treatment  is  essential. 

Probation  officers  should  encourage  on  the  part  of 
every  boy  the  pursuit  of  athletics  in  some  form.  Every 
boy  needs  healthful  directed  play  and  organized  recrea- 
tion. The  question  of  health  should  be  constantly  con- 
sidered. The  probation  officer  should  see  that  any  phys- 
ical defects  are  attended  to,  preferably  through  the  boy's 
parents  and  family  doctor.  In  every  doubtful  case  he 
should  make  sure  at  the  beginning  of  a  boy's  probation 
that  he  has  a  thorough  physical  examination.  In  cases 
of  adolescent  boys  cautious  instruction  in  sex  hygiene 

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Probation 

should  be  secured,  preferably  through  the  parents  and 
family  doctor. 

The  methods  suggested  in  the  care  of  children  under 
court  supervision  may  seem  to  some  too  detailed  or  too 
paternal.  But  it  is  only  by  attention  to  details  that  chil- 
dren's habits  can  be  directed,  and  family  life  recon- 
structed. Surely,  the  court  is  a  "  parent "  in  its  process 
of  probation. 

Probation  officers  need  to  guard,  however,  against  un- 
wise exhibitions  of  interest  in  their  charges.  Such  in- 
dulgences as  sumptuous  dinners  or  the  gift  of  money 
should  be  avoided.  Volunteer  officers  are  frequent 
offenders  in  this  respect  on  account  of  sentimental  rather 
than  wise  interest  in  their  probationers. 

SECTION  7.     SPECIAL  ASPECTS  OF  PROBATION 

PROBATION  AMONG  FOREIGN-SPEAKING  PEOPLES 

The  peculiar  problem  in  dealing  with  foreign-speaking 
peoples  arises  not  so  much  from  difference  in  race  and 
tradition,  as  it  does  from  the  perfectly  obvious  difficulty 
of  fully  understanding  them,  unless,  as  is  very  rarely  the 
case,  the  probation  officer  speaks  the  language  of  the 
foreign  population  with  whom  he  deals. 

Where  there  is  a  large  foreign  population  of  one 
nationality,  in  Chicago  and  New  York,  for  instance, 
where  there  are  so  many  thousands  of  one  nationality, 
there  should  be  a  trained  probation  officer  for  each 
nationality. 

In  smaller  communities,  where  we  cannot  hope  to  have 
one  probation  officer  for  each  nationality  or  race,  the 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

problem  of  contact  becomes  difficult.  Experience  shows 
that  the  question  of  whether  the  relation  should  be  estab- 
lished through  professional  interpreters  or  neighbors,  or 
children,  will  have  to  be  decided  by  the  common  sense  of 
the  probation  officer  and  the  means  at  hand  in  each  case. 

Sometimes,  in  very  delicate  cases,  where  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  have  important  facts  accurately,  a 
professional  interpreter  is  necessary.  Usually  matters  of 
such  importance  should  be  heard  not  by  the  probation 
officer,  but  by  the  court. 

There  can  be  little  or  no  objection  to  using  neighbors 
or  even  children  to  interpret  on  ordinary  occasions. 
Most  foreign  neighborhoods  have  some  volunteer  inter- 
preter who  is  willing  to  assist,  and  who  can  be  relied 
upon.  The  questions  usually  asked  are  such  as  not  to 
involve  any  embarrassment  to  the  family  among  neigh- 
bors, or  to  risk  one  child's  knowing  too  much  about  the 
troubles  of  another.  The  objections  to  using  children  as 
interpreters  are:  first,  the  danger  of  undermining  the 
authority  of  the  parents  by  placing  them  in  a  position  of 
dependence  upon  the  children;  and,  second,  the  unde- 
sirability  of  having  one  child  talk  about  the  business  of 
another. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  objections,  whether  fortunately 
or  unfortunately,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact,  that  foreign- 
speaking  parents  are  dependent  to  a  very  large  degree 
upon  their  children  for  their  contact  with  the  English 
speaking  people  about  them;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
such  interpreting  as  the  probation  officer  requires  is  really 
any  different  from  that  which  they  are  constantly  doing. 
As  regards  the  second  objection,  there  is  not  often  any 

144 


Probation 

real  danger  in  this  respect.  The  questions  usually  asked 
in  the  home  are  generally  quite  harmless  —  where  a  boy 
spends  his  time,  whether  he  is  working  or  not,  what  time 
he  comes  in  at  night,  etc. 

No  rules  can  take  the  place  of  ordinary  good  sense  in 
such  diverse  situations  as  contact  with  immigrants  is 
bound  to  present. 

It  is  essential,  however,  that  contact  with  immigrants 
on  the  part  of  probation  officers  should  always  be  thor- 
oughly sympathetic  and  thoroughly  unprejudiced.  A  pro- 
bation officer  who  allows  himself  to  be  swayed  by  any  pre- 
conceived notions  of  the  inferiority  of  any  foreign-speak- 
ing people,  sets  up  in  advance  a  barrier  between  himself 
and  the  people  which  prevents  his  doing  effective  work. 
Furthermore,  he  must  enter  upon  his  work  with  a  sym- 
pathetic understanding  of  old-world  standards  of  per- 
sonal conduct,  parental  prerogative  and  filial  obligation, 
which  often  conflict  with  ours,  but  which  cannot  be  un- 
equivocally condemned.  Often  many  of  the  difficulties 
encountered  in  dealing  with  foreign-speaking  people  are 
erroneously  attributed  to  their  inability  to  understand 
English.  An  intelligent  foreign-speaking  parent  is  easier 
to  deal  with  than  an  ignorant  English-speaking  parent. 

It  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  among  experienced  pro- 
bation officers  that  it  is  especially  important  to  have  as 
probation  officers  dealing  with  Italians,  Poles  and  Jwvs, 
persons  who  speak  their  languages  fluently.  Indeed, 
some  probation  officers  assert  that  they  have  never  known 
really  successful  probation  among  either  Jewish  or  Polish 
people  except  by  probation  officers  who  speak  their  lan- 
guages easily. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

There  are  also  problems  of  a  more  delicate  nature 
peculiar  to  immigrants,  which  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  question  of  interpreting. 

Miss  Grace  Abbott  of  the  Chicago  Immigrant  Pro- 
tective League  puts  it  clearly  in  saying: 

One  of  the  principal  causes  of  delinquency  among  children 
of  foreign-born  parentage  is  the  fact  that  family  relation- 
ships are  reversed.  The  child  learns  English  and  something 
of  American  ways  and  assumes  to  be  the  interpreter  of 
America  to  his  parents.  The  mother  finds  the  adjustment 
of  her  old-world  standards  to  the  new  conditions  most  be- 
wildering. The  problem  for  the  probation  officer  is,  there- 
fore, how  to  reestablish  the  parents  in  the  eyes  of  the  child. 
To  do  this,  the  probation  officer  must  be  able  to  make  the 
connection  between  the  old  environment  and  the  new.  For 
this  reason  he  must  haVe  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the 
social  psychology  of  the  people  he  is  attempting  to  reach. 
Without  this,  the  gap  between  parent  and  child  will  widen 
as  a  result  of  the  unintelligent  efforts  of  a  well-meaning 
officer,  and  unintelligible  means  of  communication  used. 

It  is  frequently  the  experience  of  probation  officers  that 
foreign-born  parents  understand  much  less  easily  than 
American  parents  the  interference  of  the  State  in  cases 
of  neglect.  An  Italian  father,  for  example,  can  under- 
stand the  interference  of  the  public  authorities  when  his 
boy  steals  something,  but  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  con- 
ceive that  he,  the  head  of  his  household,  is  accountable 
to  any  one  outside  for  the  way  in  which  he  cares  for 
his  children.  This  makes  it  necessary  for  the  probation 
officer  to  educate  -the  father  to  some  understanding  of 
this,  to  him,  new  and  strange  idea. 

146 


Probation 

COLORED   CHILDREN 

The  peculiar  reasons  which  make  it  advisable  to  have 
a  colored  probation  officer  deal  with  colored  children 
wherever  there  is  a  large  colored  population  are  those 
found  in  the  differences  between  the  social  life  of  colored 
and  white  people  and  in  the  peculiarly  difficult  problems 
of  race  contact.  The  differences  in  attitude  of  mind 
and  the  ways  of  life  are  so  subtle  and,  at  the  same  time, 
so  complicated,  that  a  white  person  rarely  understands 
how  to  deal  with  them  sympathetically  and  effectively. 
They  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

1.  Among  the  very  poor  and  illiterate,  the  looseness 
of  the  family  relation,  coupled  with  an  intense  love  for 
children. 

2.  The  great  power  of  religious  impulse  and  the  great 
need  for  emotional  religious  expression. 

3.  The  constant  discrimination  against  colored  people 
at  every  turn,  particularly  harassing  in  industry  where 
opportunities  for  employment  are  few. 

4.  The  poverty  and  squalor  of  many  colored  homes, 
which  will  be  endured  without  appealing  for  charitable 
aid,  and  which  leads  to  much  neglect  and  delinquency. 

5.  The  lack  of  opportunities   for  relief,   social  life, 
hospitals,   recreation   and  the  like  all  make  for  more 
neglect  and   delinquency  among  colored   children  than 
those  of  almost  any  other  group.     The  ratio  in  many 
border-line  and  southern  states  is  five  to  one  compared 
to  the  proportion  of  white  children  in  court. 

Special  attention  in  dealing  with  colored  children 
needs  to  be  given  to : 

147 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

1.  Their  home  life,  including  the  housing  conditions. 

2.  Vocational   training   and    opportunities,    both    for 
children  and  parents. 

3.  Recreational  opportunities. 

4.  Influence  of  race  prejudice  on  their  temperament 
and  on  their  opportunities. 

5.  Making  known  in  colored; neighborhoods  the  func- 
tion and  purpose  of  the  juvenile  court,  so  that  many 
other  children  who  are  not  now  properly  cared  for  will 
be  brought  under  the  watchful  care  of  the  court  and  its 
probation  officers. 

SPECIAL   WORK   IN   THE   PROBATION   OF   GIRLS 

The  probation  of  girls  presents  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult problems,  because  the  difference  in  the  habits  of 
life  of  girls  makes  their  delinquency  the  more  serious 
and  more  problematic.  The  restricted  social  opportuni- 
ties for  young  girls,  the  lack  of  wholesome  recreation 
with  boys  of  their  own  age,  the  difficulty  of  directing 
their  activities  into  natural  channels  of  expression,  all 
make  a  problem  which  is  not  present  in  the  case  of  boys. 

There  is  such  a  variety  of  method  in  dealing  with  the 
difficult  problem  of  delinquent  girls,  that  the  authors 
are  in  great  doubt  as  to  what  standards  and  methods  to 
present.  Believing  that  it  would  be  helpful  to  get  opin- 
ions on  the  same  specific  points  from  a  number  of  women 
of  long  experience  in  dealing  with  delinquent  girls,  the 
authors  have  secured  the  statements  which  follow: 

Says  Mrs.  Martha  P.  Falconer  of  the  Girls'  House  of 
Refuge,  Philadelphia: 

I  think  it  is  much  more  difficult  to  help  girls  with  pro- 

148 


Probation 

bation  than  boys.  The  greatest  difficulty  is  to  supply  them 
with  the  opportunity  for  social  life.  They  must  have 
recreation  and  companionship.  How  to  give  them  this, 
without  having  the  privilege  abused,  is  a  great  problem.  I 
believe  it  is  impossible  for  some  girls  between  the  ages  of 
1 6  and  21  or  even  older,  to  resist  temptation  in  the  presence 
of  men  and,  of  course,  most  of  them  would  be  a  menace 
to  any  community  where  they  would  be  thrown  very  much 
with  men.  On  the  other  hand,  a  girl  is  apt  to  be  so  in- 
tensely lonely  in  an  isolated  home  in  the  country  that  she 
becomes  discontented.  The  safest  place  is  in  the  simpler 
homes  in  the  country  or  smaller  communities  where  the 
social  lines  are  less  distinctly  drawn,  where  the  girl  can  be 
treated  as  a  member  of  the  family  and  where  she  will  have 
the  companionship  of  a  woman  and  her  little  children. 
Some  women  will  be  very  patient  with  the  girl  for  the  help 
that  she  will  give  her  in  a  community  where  it  is  difficult  to 
obtain  domestic  service.  I  believe  that  most  immoral  girls 
will  be  better  for  a  period  of  training  before  being  placed 
on  probation.  If  the  girl  can  be  trusted,  has  proved  her- 
self, opportunities  should  be  given  her  to  have  some  recrea- 
tion. In  every  particular  try  and  place  a  girl  in  some  other 
home  for  the  reason  that  if  the  girl  is  immoral,  it  is  often 
because  the  mother  is  weak  or  vicious  or  unwise  in  handling 
the  girl  or  very  often  the  girl's  own  mother  is  dead  and  the 
stepmother  is  not  in  sympathy  with  the  girl. 

The  same  temptation  will  also  be  waiting  for  the  girl  in 
that  immediate  neighborhood.  We  have  found  from  our 
experience  that  our  girls  do  very  much  better  if  they  are 
never  allowed  to  return  to  their  old  homes  after  their  two 
years  of  training  and  care  in  this  school.  We  allow  very 
few  to  return  to  their  homes  and  most  of  these  do  badly. 
We  have  to  bring  them  back  and  re-place  them  in  another 
community.  If  we  could  do  so,  I  wish  we  might  never  allow 

149 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

a  girl  to  go  back  to  her  home,  and  where  I  can  get  the  co- 
operation of  the  court  or  others  in  authority,  I  do  not  do  so. 
But  as  we  all  know,  a  mother's  tears  will  very  easily  move 
those  in  authority  and  it  is  useless  to  argue  if  the  home  is 
in  apparently  good  condition.  Most  people  would  feel  that 
the  girl  deserved  a  chance,  but  our  experience  is  that  the 
girls  seldom  do  well  when  allowed  to  return  to  their  old 
homes. 

Says  Miss  Mary  Dewson,  formerly  superintendent  of 
the  Parole  Department  of  the  Lancaster  (Mass.)  School 
for  Girls: 

To  my  mind  the  greatest  problem  with  girls  is  to  keep 
them  from  prostitution.  Such  a  "  highfalutin  standard " 
is  never  held  up  for  boys,  or  with  no  greater  insistency  than 
shown  by  a  spasmodic  speech  by  a  probation  officer.  But 
the  probation  officer  for  the  girl  sets  moral  decency  as  the 
standard  and  the  girl  must  attain  that  or  fail  altogether. 
The  boys  commit  certain  overt  acts  against  society,  as  arson, 
larceny,  burglary,  etc.,  and  upon  them  attention  is  focussed. 
It  is  not  too  difficult  to  convince  many  boys  of  the  wisdom 
of  another  course.  Their  more  subtle  but  deeper  offense 
against  society  in  the  degradation  of  themselves  and  others 
by  immorality  and  debauchery  is  in  the  side-light. 

This  same  subtle  and  deeper  offense  is  the  one  the  girls' 
probation  officer  attacks.  It  is  a  long,  slow  job  to  convince 
either  girl  or  boy  that  they  desire  this  much-lauded,  and 
from  their  point  of  view,  little-practised  thing,  decency.  It 
takes  seven  years  for  the  physical  tissue  of  the  body  to 
change  throughout.  The  spiritual  body  grows  as  slowly. 
The  special  problem  with  the  girl  is  to  grow  her  mind  and 
her  emotional  nature  into  a  more  wholesome  form. 

Is  this  slow  growth  possible  in  her  own  home,  in  the  old 

150 


Probation 

environment?  Perhaps  sometimes,  if  there  is  decency  and 
some  common  sense  in  her  people,  and  provided  her  energy 
and  desires  are  intelligently  looked  after  by  the  probation 
officer.  More  often  her  home  is  an  impossible  place  in 
which  to  grow  a  new  set  of  ideas  and  habits. 

The  alternative  is  placing  out.  A  new  set  of  problems  — 
very  serious  ones  —  community  problems  as  well  as  per- 
sonal problems.  For  the  girl  herself  careful  and  frequently 
followed-up  placing  out,  which  includes  the  girl,  the  em- 
ployer and  the  environment,  plus  the  strength  of  the  visitor's 
personal  power,  is  the  best  plan.  The  best  plan,  at  any 
rate,  for  a  few  years.  As  her  new  ideas  become  more  than 
veneer  and  her  new  habits  begin  to  grip  her,  she  may  have  a 
try  at  a  more  congenial  occupation. 

Again  a  new  problem.  Industry  does  not  pay  a  living 
wage  to  young,  green  help.  Frequently  it  does  not  to  the 
experienced,  the  deft,  the  steady.  It  is  not  enough  for  a 
girl  to  know  something  of  sewing,  millinery,  or  stenog- 
raphy. Only  the  exceptional  girl  can  earn  enough  in  in- 
dustry to  get  along,  unless  she  is  boarded  below  cost  at 
home,  and  maintained  altogether  during  the  slack  times  and 
sickness.  I  have  seen  many  decent  girls  subsidized  by  their 
probation  officers'  efforts  while  in  industry,  give  it  up  and 
go  back  to  housework  after  they  were  twenty-one  and  on 
their  own  resources. 

Miss  Gertrude  Grasse,  Executive  Secretary  of  the 
Brooklyn  Juvenile  Probation  Association,  says  the  spe- 
cial problems  with  girls  are : 

The  reticence  of  girls  to  "  make  a  clean  breast  of  things," 
the  difficulty  of  giving  them  proper  amusement  in  place  of 
vulgar  shows  which  they  have  frequented,  to  secure  good 
companionship  for  them. 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

I  do  not  consider  the  reporting  of  girls  desirable  or  of 
very  much  value.  The  probation  officer  can  get  more  satis- 
factory information  if  she  visits  the  home,  school  or  place 
of  work  frequently.  The  statements  of  the  girls  have  to 
be  verified  anyway  if  the  probation  officer  is  to  do  good 
work.  The  best  way  to  reach  a  girl  is  to  take  her  to  the 
theater  or  museum  or  invite  her  to  one's  home  in  a  social 
way.  More  things  are  told  and  confided  and  a  better  in- 
sight obtained  than  by  a  dozen  "  reports." 

It  is  necessary  for  the  probation  officer  to  know  all  the 
facts  clearly  and  have  the  girl  understand  that  she  knows. 
The  probation  officer  must  never  let  a  deception  on  the 
girl's  part  go  by  default.  Unless  the  probation  officer  un- 
derstands the  facts  and  faces  them,  she  cannot  be  successful. 
After  matters  are  understood,  it  is  best  not  to  refer  to  them 
again. 

In  quite  an  extensive  experience  I  have  found  only  two 
girls  who  were  deliberately  immoral  who  apparently  were 
not  feeble-minded.  A  girl  under  16  years  is  immoral  under 
stress  of  environment  or  because  she  does  not  realize  what 
she  is  doing.  Probation  officers  should  discuss  with  their 
girl  probationers  the  fact  of  life  and  present  it  to  them  as 
one  of  the  wonderful  things  of  life  to  which  a  woman  is 
called. 

It  is  almost  always  necessary  to  remove  a  girl  who  has 
gone  wrong  from  her  former  environment.  The  parents 
who  gave  her  little  care  before  she  came  to  court,  seldom 
improve  very  rapidly  in  that  respect.  Then,  too,  if  the  girl 
can  be  placed  in  a  home  with  a  good  woman,  in  good  sur- 
roundings, she  can  teach  her  many  things  which  the  girl 
has  had  no  chance  to  learn  at  home.  The  probation  officer 
at  best  can  only  see  the  girl  intermittently  and  what  she 
needs  at  this  time,  when  her  whole  future  is  in  the  balance, 
is  the  influence  of  a  good  woman  as  a  daily  companion. 

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Probation 

The  homes  in  which  girls  are  placed  should  be  carefully 
investigated  and  only  such  be  chosen  where  the  "  mother 
of  the  family  "  understands  that  this  is  her  opportunity  to 
help  one  girl  to  full  womanhood. 

Says  Miss  Maude  E.  Miner,  of  the  New  York  State 
Probation  Association,  giving  her  opinion  in  order  on 
the  questions  asked  by  the  authors: 

/.  Problems  in  Probation  Work  for  Girls: 

(a)  Lack  of   sufficiently   complete  investigation   in   the 
cases  of  girls  before  they  are  released  on  probation,  with 
the  result  that  frequently  girls  unsuitable  for  probation  are 
placed  in  the  charge  of  probation  officers. 

(b)  Difficulty  in  securing  adequate  wages  and  recreation 
for  probationers. 

(c)  Lack  of  suitable  institutions  in  which  girls  can  re- 
ceive training  for  work  without  being  under  legal  commit- 
ment. 

(d)  Lack  of  adequate  institutions  to  which  girls  can  be 
committed  when  they  violate  their  probation,  and  failure  on 
the  part  of  judges  to  commit  girls  for  violation  of  proba- 
tion.    If  girls  are  committed  to  work-houses  or  reforma- 
tories where  there  is  not  adequate  care,  or,  if  they  are 
allowed  to  go  after  violating  the  terms  of  probation,  proba- 
tion is  meaningless  to  them. 

2.  Desirability  of  Having  Girls  Report  to  Probation  Officers: 

Reports  are  desirable  if  they  are  under  proper  conditions. 
In  other  words,  if  the  probation  officer  has  really  the  oppor- 
tunity to  see  the  girl,  to  talk  with  her  and  to  understand  her 
problems  better.  Such  reports  should  be  without  excep- 
tion apart  from  the  court.  Girls  consider  it  a  privilege  to 
visit  the  probation  officer,  if  the  probation  officer  is  truly  a 

153 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

friend.  It  makes  these  reports  more  than  a  formal  state- 
ment by  the  girl  of  how  she  is  getting  along  and  utilizes  them 
as  an  opportunity  to  win  the  girl  still  further. 

j.  Methods  of  Dealing  with  Immoral  Girls: 

If  careful  physical  examination  has  not  been  made  before 
the  girl  is  released  on  probation,  the  probation  officer  should 
have  such  made  before  the  girl  is  allowed  to  go  to  work  or 
return  to  her  own  home.  The  mental  examination  and 
diagnosis  can  help  in  solving  the  problem  of  placing  the  girl 
at  the  kind  of  work  she  is  best  fitted  to  do.  The  probation 
officer  must  have  adequate  understanding  of  the  nature  of 
the  girl  and  sufficiently  strong  personality  to  make  the  girl 
feel  she  is  under  her  care  in  more  than  a  legal  or  formal 
way.  Emphasis  must  be  laid  upon  getting  the  girl  into  the 
right  attitude  of  mind  and  making  her  feel  constantly  that 
it  is  possible  for  her  to  let  go  the  past  and  lead  an  honest, 
useful  life.  It  is  helpful  to  urge  right  thinking  with 
immoral  girls  and  good  results  have  come  from  this. 

4.  Placing  Girls  in  Homes  Other  Than  Their  Own: 

In  dealing  with  the  girls  on  probation,  I  have  found  that 
it  is  the  wisest  and  best  thing  to  have  the  girl  return  to  her 
home  if  her  family  will  deal  rightly  with  her,  provided  the 
home  is  a  suitable  place  for  the  girl.  Of  course,  a  girl 
cannot  be  returned  to  an  immoral  home  or  to  one  where 
the  family  is  so  entirely  out  of  sympathy  with  her  that  she 
cannot  be  at  all  happy.  Often  the  parents  can  be  induced 
to  take  a  different  attitude  toward  the  girl  and  so  help  her 
in  her  effort  to  rehabilitate  herself.  If  constructive  work 
can  be  done  in  the  home  by  frequent  visits  of  the  probation 
officer  and  her  advice  and  help,  the  home  can  be  made  a 
better  place,  not  only  for  the  girl,  but  for  her  brothers  and 
sisters.  Whenever  it  is  possible  to  link  the  girl  with  homes 

154 


Probation 

in  any  sense  helpful,  I  have  found  greater  success  than  in 
placing  the  girls  outside,  unless  the  most  ideal  conditions 
could  be  found  for  them.  Institutions  such  as  hospitals, 
day  nurseries,  etc.,  have  aided  by  taking  girls  to  work  in 
them  and  some  supervision  has  been  exercised  by  persons 
within  the  institution  who  were  interested  in  girls.  If  it 
can  be  avoided,  I  do  not  place  girls  in  furnished  rooming 
houses  or  boarding  houses  during  their  probation  period. 

VIOLATIONS   OF    PROBATION 

In  cases  of  both  delinquency  and  neglect,  a  probation 
officer  time  and  again  must  decide  whether  or  not  a  case 
has  gone  beyond  the  help  of  probation  and  requires 
further  action  by  the  court.  The  decision  in  such  cases 
depends  in  general  on  one  consideration  —  whether  or 
not  on  the  whole  the  case  is  failing  under  the  work  of 
probation;  whether  on  the  whole  conditions  are  getting 
worse  (or  no  better)  despite  all  that  probation  officers 
can  do.  If  that  is  the  case,  the  probation  officer  is  not 
living  up  to  his  obligations,  if  he  does  not  bring  it  to 
the  judge's  attention.  Probation  was  not  instituted  for 
continuing  indefinitely  cases  which  do  not  respond  to 
its  methods. 

A  probation  officer  should  allow  his  efforts  a  reason- 
able time  to  bear  fruit  before  bringing  the  case  to  court. 
He  should  make  every  effort  in  his  power  to  solve  the 
problem.  No  specific  offense,  unless  it  be  a  serious  one, 
is  enough  to  justify  bringing  a  delinquent  child  back  to 
court.  A  boy,  for  instance,  placed  on  probation  after 
being  brought  to  court  for  stealing,  steals  again.  Tech- 
nically it  is,  of  course,  a  violation  of  his  probation.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  this  stealing  may  be  much  less  serious 

155 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

than  the -original  offense,  and  his  attitude  toward  it  may 
be  distinctly  better.  In  such  circumstances,  the  officer 
is  justified,  if  there  is  no  prosecution,  in  continuing  the 
child  on  probation.  A  record  of  the  fact  should  usually 
be  reported  to  the  court.  Unless  at  least  so  much  dis- 
cretion is  given  a  probation  officer  in  working  out  a 
problem,  there  can  be  but  little  force  in  probation. 

In  the  larger  cities,  where  there  is  a  chief  probation 
officer,  it  is  his  business  to  see  that  his  assistants  keep 
track  of  every  case,  and  that  they  do  not  allow  cases  to 
lapse  or  default  without  being  brought  back  to  court. 
A  well-organized  office  can  do  this,  particularly  if  the 
probation  officers  are  in  close  contact  by  means  of  weekly 
conferences  regarding  their  methods,  and  if  the  chief 
probation  officer  is  in  frequent  contact  with  his  assistants 
regarding  their  work. 

When  a  probation  officer  feels,  after  a  reasonable  trial, 
that  he  is  accomplishing  nothing  with  a  particular  child, 
he  should  report  that  conclusion  to  the  chief  probation 
officer. ,  The  chief  probation  officer  should  review  the 
case  from  the  time  it  came  into  court,  with  all  the  later 
history  which  the  assistant  can  give.  If  it  then  ap- 
pears that  other  methods  can  be  followed  and  other  re- 
sources drawn  upon  the  chief  probation  officer  may  refer 
it  back  with  instructions  to  follow  out  an  indicated  line 
of  work.  If  it  appears  that  the  probation  officer  is  not 
adapted  to  working  out  a  particular  problem,  it  should 
be  transferred  to  another  officer  for  solution.  If  the 
case  appears  to  need  the  court's  attention,  the  chief  pro- 
bation officer  should  file  the  proper  papers  for  re-appear- 
ance in  court. 

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Probation 

Every  case  that  is  returned  to  court  by  an  assistant 
should  come  through  the  chief  probation  officer  first. 
He  is  personally  responsible  to  the  court  for  the  conduct 
of  all  the  probation  work.  In  courts  in  which  there  are 
only  one  or  two  probation  officers,  and  no  chief,  cases 
of  violation  have  to  be  treated  differently.  In  these 
courts,  the  judge  usually  attends  to  details  of  the  proba- 
tion system  and  should  be  informed  of  practically  all 
violations. 

No  probation  officer  or  chief  probation  officer  should 
permit  any  considerable  number  of  violations  of  pro- 
bation by  a  given  child  without  bringing  him  to  the 
court's  attention.  The  probation  system  is  greatly 
weakened  by  allowing  successive  violations  to  pass  with- 
out a  change  of  treatment.  The  system  is  discredited 
in  the  eyes  of  the  children,  their  parents  and  often  of  a 
whole  neighborhood.  Probation  is  a  serious  function, 
and  real  violations  are  important  matters,  to  be  carefully 
dealt  with. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  run  to  the  judge  with  every  little 
violation  is  equally  damaging,  for  the  court  has  little  to 
offer  except  institutional  treatment,  a  warning,  or  new 
conditions  of  probation.  By  the  probation  officer's 
handling  of  violation  and  keeping  it  from  court,  he 
often  gains  a  stronger  hold  on  children  and  their  parents. 
Frequently  in  difficult  cases,  a  conference  between  the 
judge  and  probation  officer  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  case 
is  of  greater  value  than  the  formality  of  bringing  the 
probationer  before  the  court  as  a  violator. 

One  of  the  difficult  problems  of  probation  is  that  of 
boys  who  "  abscond  " —  who  run  away  from  home  and 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

often  leave  the  city  for  periods  of  time.  In  such  cases, 
probation  officers  are  under  obligation  to  make  every 
effort  to  locate  the  children  by  corresponding  with  other 
cities  and  following  every  possible  clue  as  to  their  where- 
abouts. Children  who  have  absconded  should  be  kept 
on  a  probation  officer's  list  and  their  homes  visited 
periodically  to  see  whether  or  not  they  have  been  heard 
from.  Such  children  should  be  followed  up  a  year  after 
the  time  of  absconding,  and  if  not  then  located,  the 
matter  should  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
court  for  an  order  relieving  the  probation  officer  of 
the  responsibility  of  further  inquiry  and  investiga- 
tion. Most  children  are,  of  course,  located  within  a 
year. 

DISCHARGES    FROM    PROBATION 

In  cases  of  both  neglected  and  delinquent  children, 
a  time  always  comes  in  each  case  when  it  is  finally  dis- 
charged from  the  supervision  of  the  court.  This  hap- 
pens either  upon  the  children's  attaining  their  majority 
and,  therefore,  passing  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court, 
or  for  cause  before  that  time.  Discharge  for  cause  is 
usually  dependent  among  delinquent  children,  upon  a 
child's  attaining  a  standard  of  good  conduct.  In  the 
cases  of  neglected  children,  it  is  dependent  upon  family 
conditions  being  so  improved  as  not  to  require  the 
further  supervision  of  the  court. 

In  some  jurisdictions,  the  length  of  probation  is  defi- 
nitely iixed  at  the  time  probation  is  imposed  and  it  is 
terminated  therefore  at  a  definite  time.  Such  procedure, 
however,  is  not  in  line  with  the  spirit  of  probation  as  it 

158 


Probation 

is  practised  all  over  the  country,  and  its  defects  are  so 
clear  as  not  to  need  comment. 

A  probation  officer  who  handles  his  or  her  work  by  a 
plan  mapped  out  in  each  case;  who  has  a  goal  to  reach, 
and  who  after  months  of  effort  weans  the  child  from  an 
intimate  supervision  to  less  supervision,  then  to  more  or 
less  casual  supervision,  and  from  that  to  merely  keeping 
track  of  events  —  is  able  finally  to  bring  the  child  to 
court  with  the  practical  assurance  that  it  no  longer  needs 
and  will  not  again  need  the  court's  care  and  direction. 
This  weaning  should  take  place  in  every  case.  In  the 
case  of  delinquent  children,  discharge  may  often  be  held 
out  as  the  reward  for  attaining  good  conduct,  the  child 
understanding  from  the  first  that  if  he  mends  his  ways 
and  behaves  himself  for  a  period  of  months,  he  may  se- 
cure a  discharge  from  the  judge  on  recommendation  of 
his  probation  officer. 

All  such  discharges  should  be  made  only  on  written 
certificate  of  the  assistant  officer  directly  in  charge  of  the 
child ;  the  facts  should  be  reviewed  by  the  chief  probation 
officer  and  certified  by  him  to  the  court.  The  cases  should 
then  be  placed  on  regular  docket  and  the  children  should 
appear,  preferably  in  the  judge's  chambers  for  their  dis- 
charge from  the  court,  certified  by  a  card  signed  by  the 
judge. 

Any  other  system  than  this  is  indefinite,  vague  and  un- 
satisfactory to  the  court  and  to  the  children.  The  placing 
of  a  child  on  probation  necessarily  carries  with  it  the  im- 
plication of  a  discharge  from  probation  when  cured,  just 
as  placement  in  a  hospital  means  discharge  when  cured. 

In  the  case  of  neglected  children  there  is,  of  course,  not 

159 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

the  same  relation  of  conduct  to  discharge.  The  parents 
in  such  cases  should  understand  that  the  court  will  con- 
tinue supervision  until  such  time  as  they  show  themselves 
capable  of  properly  raising  their  children.  A  final  entry 
of  discharge  should  be  made  when  the  supervision  is  con- 
cluded. 

WORK   OF   THE   CHIEF   PROBATION    OFFICER 

The  chief  probation  officer  has  two  distinct  functions 
to  perform:  the  first  deals  with  his  relation  to  the  court, 
carrying  with  it  the  supervision  of  investigations,  attend- 
ance in  court  and  execution  of  the  judge's  directions. 
The  second  function  is  that  of  administration  of  the  pro- 
bation office  and  supervision  of  the  work  of  the  pro- 
bation officers.  In  addition  to  these  two  functions,  he 
often  has  the  additional  work  of  keeping  in  touch  with 
the  institutions  to  which  children  are  sent.  Having 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  cases,  he  is  in  constant  com- 
munication with  these  institutions  and  their  representa- 
tives at  the  court.  He  visits  them  frequently  from  time 
to  time  in  order  to  keep  in  touch  both  with  the  manage- 
ment and  the  children,  who,  in  most  states,  are  still  wards 
of  the  court,  and  upon  their  release  will  very  likely  con- 
tinue on  parole  or  under  supervision  in  the  care  of  the 
probation  office. 

Further  than  this,  the  chief  probation  officer  must  main- 
tain a  close  relation  with  all  social  agencies,  public  and 
private ;  he  must  be  informed  as  to  the  social  resources  of 
the  community ;  the  various  charitable  and  civic  agencies 
and  the  work  of  the  schools.  He  must  have  an  exact 
knowledge  of  social  conditions  of  the  city  or  county.  He 

160 


Probation 

is  frequently  called  on  to  discuss  probation  and  the 
Juvenile  Court,  and  he  must  be  always  ready  to  represent 
the  work  in  the  community,  even  though  he  may  have  to 
make  special  preparation  to  equip  himself  for  public 
speaking. 

He  usually  has  to  prepare  whatever  news  items  appear 
in  the  papers  regarding  the  work  of  the  probation  office, 
and  to  see  to  it  that  items  of  public  interest,  which  will 
help  keep  the  community  in  touch  with  the  work  of  the 
court,  get  publicity.  These  items  should  never  exploit 
the  cases  of  unfortunate  children  or  families,  but  should 
deal  with  problems,  methods  and  results. 

The  chief  probation  officer  should  review  all  the  cases 
which  come  before  the  court  before  their  hearing  to  see 
that  the  proper  investigations  have  been  prepared  in  every 
case.  His  assistants  should  bring  to  him  all  cases  of 
violation  of  probation,  or  cases  ready  for  discharge  from 
probation.  He  may  also  have  to  keep  in  touch  with 
children  on  probation  who  move  away  from  the  city  out- 
side the  field  of  direct  supervision. 

The  following  summary  of  the  work  of  the  chief  pro- 
bation officer  in  one  court  gives  a  clear  idea  of  the  matters 
usually  under  his  jurisdiction : 

1.  In  relation  to  Court: 

(a)  Attendance  in  court. 

(b)  Passing  upon  all  complaints  and  petitions, 
and  referring  cases  to  other  agencies. 

(c)  Passing  on  all  applications   for  release  or 
parole  from  institutions,  change  of  custody, 
etc. 

2.  In  relation  to  Probation  Office : 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

(a)  Direction  of  probation  officers'   work  and 
assignment  of  all  cases. 

(b)  Handling  irregular  and  special  cases. 

(c)  Supervision  by  correspondence  of  children  on 
probation  removed  from  the  city. 

(d)  Passing  on  all  cases  of  violating  probation 
or  parole,  and  discharges  from  probation  or 
parole. 

(e)  General  correspondence. 

(f)  Preparing  monthly  and  annual  reports. 
3.  In  relation  to  Institutions: 

(a)  Visiting  periodically  as  representative  of  the 
court. 

(b)  Passing  on  applications  for  releases,  changes 
of  custody,  etc. 

PROBATION    OFFICE   WORK 

No  small  portion  of  the  business  of  any  well-organized 
probation  office  is  the  routine  clerical  and  office  work. 
An  accurate  system  of  records,  filing  and  indexing  must 
be  installed.  The  office  work  should  be  so  organized  that 
no  time  is  lost  in  locating  papers  or  records,  nor  in  wasting 
words,  when  a  business-like  system  would  save  explana- 
tions. 

One  of  the  first  essentials  is,  of  course,  a  stenographer 
and  typewriter.  Notes  kept  on  scratch  paper  or  written 
by  hand  are  not  always  legible  and  do  not  make  for  a 
business-like  system.  The  records  which  a  probation 
officer  keeps  for  personal  use  may  be  written  by  hand, 
since  such  records  are  of  little  use  to  other  persons.  But 
all  records  for  general  use  in  the  office  or  court  should 

162 


FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN. 

Milwaukee  Children's  Court  Building.     Plan  of  Two  Floors 


Probation 

be  typewritten.  Probation  officers  should  have  the  serv- 
ices of  a  stenographer  for  correspondence  in  order  to 
relieve  them  of  clerical  work,  and  to  give  them  the  fullest 
time  for  their  cases. 

Even  under  the  district  system,  a  centralization  of  office 
work  is  desirable.  The  officers  should  keep  in  contact 
with  the  central  office  by  telephone  at  least  once  or  twice 
daily.  Where  the  district  system  does  not  exist,  it  is 
desirable  for  the  probation  officers  to  have  a  fixed  office 
hour,  in  which  all  the  officers  can  get  together.  The  last 
hour  or  two  of  the  day  is  most  desirable,  when  children 
can  be  seen  after  school  hours  —  the  reports  of  the  day 
made  out  and  the  work  for  the  next  day  planned.  In 
this  way,  the  chief  probation  officer,  the  office  force  and 
the  assistant  or  district  officers  can  keep  in  close  touch. 

THE    LARGER    SYSTEM    OF    COOPERATION 

So  far  we  have  outlined  particularly  the  technique  of 
the  probation  officers'  work  in  relation  to  school,  home, 
neighborhood  and  other  factors  which  make  up  a  child's 
life.  From  a  larger  point-of-view  this  cooperation  must 
be  translated  into  a  community  movement  which  sys- 
tematically forces  back  upon  the  usual  constructive 
agencies  the  responsibility  of  so  relating  themselves,  one 
to  another,  that  the  Juvenile  Court  will  be  an  unnecessary 
adjuster  between  them. 

Among  the  principal  feeders  of  the  Juvenile  Court  in 
most  cities  are  the  attendance  and  truant  officers  of  the 
public  schools.  A  child  plays  truant  or  misbehaves  in 
school ;  he  is  reported  by  his  principal  to  the  truant  officer. 
The  truant  officer  sees  him,  warns  him,  and,  failing,  re- 

165 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

sorts  to  other  methods  to  keep  him  in  school,  and  when 
they  fail,  reports  him  to  the  court. 

Now,  while  the  probation  officer  must  work  with  this 
system,  and  while  he  gets  on  probation  many  of  the  chil- 
dren with  whom  the  attendance  officer  has  unsuccessfully 
dealt,  still  the  chief  probation  officer  or  the  judge  can  take 
up  directly  with  the  schools,  the  possibility  of  keeping 
many  of  these  children  out  of  court.  In  several  cities, 
for  instance,  a  large  number  of  truants  are  prevented 
from  coming  to  the  Juvenile  Court  by  the  establishment 
of  special  rooms  in  the  public  schools,  these  rooms  receiv- 
ing truant  or  incorrigible  children  from  the  grade  schools 
on  certificate  of  principals  to  the  superintendent  of  in- 
struction that  the  children  in  question  are  beyond  their 
power  to  manage.  Few  principals  are  willing  to  sign 
such  a  certificate.  In  one  city,  the  result  in  three  years 
was  that  three  rooms  of  fifteen  misfits  each  had  been 
reduced  to  less  than  enough  for  one  room.  This  process, 
of  course,  properly  forces  back  upon  each  school  the 
responsibility  of  dealing  with  the  exceptional  boy.  In 
time  all  cases  of  delinquency  not  due  to  individual  defec- 
tiveness,  can  probably  be  reached  by  the  school  authori- 
ties during  the  school  period  up  to  14  years.  As  the 
school  and  the  home  become  more  closely  related,  there 
will  be  cut  off  a  very  large  percentage  of  delinquent  chil- 
dren who  now  come  to  the  Juvenile  Court  from  the  public 
schools. 

New  York  City  offers  a  type  of  cooperation  between 
home  and  school  that  other  cities  might  do  well  to  imi- 
tate. In  1906  the  visiting  teacher  was  put  into  the 
field  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  intelligently,  sympathet- 

166 


Probation 

ically,  and  promptly  with  the  child  who  had  for  one 
reason  or  another  become  a  problem  at  school.  The  fol- 
lowing year  1907-8  connection  was  made  with  the  Public 
Education  Association,  a  volunteer  organization  that  sup- 
plements the  work  of  the  Department  of  Education.  It 
is  the  visiting  teacher's  duty  to  focus  the  attention  of 
school  and  home  so  effectively  upon  the  child  that  he 
may  be  spared  the  services  of  the  remedial  agencies 
afforded  by  the  community.  She  does  this  by  study- 
ing him  intimately  at  school,  at  home,  and  in  his 
immediate  neighborhood,  thereby  establishing  a  close 
friendly  relation  with  him.  Visits  innumerable  she 
makes  to  him  and  to  his  haunts,  day  or  night,  what- 
ever and  whenever  the  occasion  demands.  Gradu- 
ally, with  the  visiting  teacher  as  "  go-between,"  the  prin- 
cipal and  teachers  come  to  know  him  as  he  is  outside 
the  class-room  and  likewise  the  mother  and  father  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  him  in  his  school  relations. 
As  a  result  of  this  exchange  of  views,  opinion  regarding 
him.  shifts,  judgments  sometimes  soften,  and,  what  is 
more,  rational  treatment  follows. 

In  every  city  the  police  annually  arrest  large  numbers 
of  children  for  minor  offenses,  things  which  can  and 
should  be  adjusted  between  the  police  officers  and  the 
boys'  parents  —  cases  in  which  there  is  no  desire  on  the 
part  of  any  one  to  prosecute.  Every  Juvenile  Court 
should  so  educate  the  police  that  these  minor  cases  can 
be  handled  intelligently  without  reference  to  the  court. 
There  is  no  superior  wisdom  in  the  Juvenile  Court  which 
enables  such  trivial  cases  to  be  better  handled.  While  in 
many  communities  the  police  system  is  unresponsive,  it 

167 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

is  nevertheless  true  that  much  can  be  done  toward  social- 
izing the  force,  and  training  them  to  cooperate  with 
the  court. 

Much  more  can  be  done  to  interest  churches  in  the 
problems  of  their  neighborhoods,  and  in  the  children  of 
their  congregations.  The  court  should  point  out  through 
judge  and  probation  officers  just  how  in  any  given  dis- 
trict the  church  can  assist  not  only  individual  families 
and  children,  but  can  help  to  provide  general  means  for 
recreation  and  improved  social  life. 

In  cases  of  delinquency,  this  larger  cooperation  then, 
will  throw  back  upon  the  school,  police  and  neighborhood 
for  solution,  many  of  the  problems  with  which  the  pro- 
bation officers  now  deal,  and  with  which  they  can  deal 
only  feebly  and  ineffectively. 

But  this  program  of  cooperation  covers  only  social  and 
individual  delinquency.  It  does  not  reach  back  into  the 
fundamental  troubles  in  the  family.  As  we  all  know, 
trouble  usually  begins  with  poverty,  disease,  broken  fam- 
ilies and  neglect.  A  large  proportion  of  juvenile  court 
cases  —  an  increasing  number  in  every  well-organized 
community  —  are  those  of  neglected  children.  An  in- 
crease in  the  proportion  of  neglected  children  coming  be- 
fore a  court  indicates  that  the  agencies  in  the  community 
are  reaching  the  children  before  delinquency  sets  in  as  the 
result  of  inefficient  home  care.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary 
that  the  juvenile  court  should  see  that  the  neglect  and 
accompanying  destitution  with  which  it  deals  are  reached 
before  conditions  get  so  bad  as  to  bring  them  to  court. 
At  this  point,  cooperation  between  the  court  and  private 
agencies  dealing  with  destitute  and  neglected  children 

168 


Probation 

must  be  carefully  worked  out  and  a  thorough  understand- 
ing reached.  Every  effort  as  a  matter  of  course  should 
be  made  by  private  agencies  to  keep  cases  out  of  court. 
Only  when  families  fail  to  respond  to  volunteer  treatment 
should  the  law  be  invoked  to  compel  action  which  they 
voluntarily  would  not  take,  or  to  place  children  under  the 
guardianship  of  the  State,  either  for  more  effective  super- 
vision or  for  removal  from  their  parents.  In  the  cases 
brought  to  court  by  a  private  agency  and  where  super- 
vision is  undertaken  by  the  court,  the  probation  officer 
placed  in  charge  of  the  family  should  secure  the  con- 
tinued assistance  of  that  agency.  It  is  rarely  advisable, 
however,  to  turn  the  family  over  completely  for  legal 
supervision  to  the  agency  which  brings  the  case  against 
them.  Neglected  children  brought  to  court  and  not  pre- 
viously dealt  with  by  a  private  agency  may  often  be  placed 
under  the  official  supervision  of  a  well-organized  private 
agency.  In  many  cities  such  agencies  are  better  equipped 
than  probation  officers  to  handle  these  difficult  family 
problems,  especially  where  the  relief  of  destitution  is  a 
large  factor. 

This  new  burden  has  become  so  great  that  in  numerous 
juvenile  courts  provision  has  been  made  for  granting 
through  the  court  itself  pensions  to  widows  and  other 
destitute  mothers.  This  novel  function  raises  at  once  a 
question  as  to  the  proper  limitation  of  the  juvenile  court's 
work.  It  is  a  serious  question  whether  the  juvenile  court 
should  give  public  relief  at  all,  or  even  whether  it  should 
decide  in  what  cases  public  relief  should  be  given  by  any 
public  disbursing  agency. 

Instead  of  resorting  to  the  court  in  such  cases,  we  be- 

169 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

lieve  that  resort  should  be  had  to  whatever  other  public 
agency  is  constituted  to  give  relief,  or  to  a  special  relief- 
giving  agency  which  should  be  constituted  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  county  court  or  county  commissioners  have 
this  function  of  relief  in  many  states,  and  in  many  cities 
this  function  is  lodged  in  officials  or  boards  such  as  over- 
seers of  the  poor,  charity  commissioners,  boards  of  chil- 
dren's guardians  and  the  like.  The  juvenile  court, 
through  the  judge  or  probation  officers,  should,  however, 
see  to  it  that  relief  is  given  by  public  or  private  agencies 
and  that  destitute  families  are  cared  for  without  the 
court's  intervention. 

The  juvenile  court  must  constantly  —  both  through  the 
conditions  it  meets  in  probation  work  and  in  the  court  — 
interpret  to  the  community  the  causes  and  point  out  the 
means  of  prevention  or  relief. 

Better  cooperation  between  school,  home,  police, 
church,  neighborhood,  playground  and  public  and  private 
social  agencies,  would  reduce  greatly  the  number  of  cases 
that  come  to  every  juvenile  court.  It  would  leave  the 
court  as  the  clearing  house  for  the  most  serious  cases 
which  require  some  special  treatment.  Probation  would 
become  a  smaller  and  smaller  function,  and  the  court 
would  become  an  agency  chiefly  for  the  commitment  of 
children  to  institutions  when  special  treatment  is  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

The  tests  of  a  good  court  system  anywhere  —  the 
maximum  of  children  really  needing  the  court's  atten- 
tion having  been  reached,  are,  first,  a  constantly  diminish- 
ing proportion  of  repeaters  to  the  total  number  of  chil- 
dren brought  before  it  each  year;  second,  a  con- 

170 


Probation 

stantly  diminishing  number  of  children  brought  be- 
fore it  (provided  always  that  all  children  who  need 
the  court's  help  are  found  and  brought  to  it)  ;  and, 
third,  an  interpretation  to  the  community  of  the  con- 
ditions it  deals  with,  directed  always  to  preventing  the 
flow  of  children  into  the  court  by  building  up  the  normal 
constructive  agencies  of  the  community.  At  the  same 
time,  the  social  facts  should  be  given  well-considered 
publicity  through  the  press,  so  that  the  work  may  be 
clearly  understood  and  backed  up  by  public  sentiment. 
The  public  does  not  yet  understand  the  juvenile  court. 
Many  social  agencies  do  not  understand  its  functions. 
Progress  will  come  with  its  success  in  reducing  the  volume 
of  delinquency  and  neglect  by  showing  other  agencies 
how  to  prevent  them. 

PROBATION    METHODS   IN   RURAL  DISTRICTS 

The  probation  methods  so  far  discussed  apply  par- 
ticularly to  cities.  The  application  of  these  methods  to 
rural  districts  is  full  of  difficulties  which  vary  with  con- 
ditions. There  are  few  strong  organizations  of  chil- 
dren's work  in  rural  districts  anywhere.  The  chief  diffi- 
culty in  organizing  probation  work  in  rural  districts  is 
the  distances  to  be  covered.  Most  rural  districts  consist 
of  large  agricultural  areas,  dotted  with  small  towns,  usu- 
ally poorly  connected.  The  county  seat  at  which  the 
judge  sits  is  usually  not  a  large  place,  and  the  children 
come  long  distances.  Probation  work  is,  therefore,  much 
scattered.  For  that  reason  one  paid  officer  who  might 
in  the  city  supervise  80  to  100  children,  can  adequately 
supervise  not  more  than  40  to  50  in  the  country.  There 

171 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

is  frequently  the  further  complication  that  the  number  of 
children  is  too  small  to  require  the  time  of  more  than  one 
person,  yet  they  are  so  different  that  there  should  be  both 
a  man  and  a  woman  to  care  for  them. 

Work  in  rural  districts  clearly  calls  for  the  use  of  vol- 
unteers or  of  persons  who  give  only  part  time  to  proba- 
tion work.  Juvenile  courts  in  such  districts  should  have 
at  least  one  paid  probation  officer  (who  may  be  giving 
part  of  his  time  to  other  work}  assisted  by  volunteers  in 
each  of  the  centers  of  population.  The  volunteers  may 
be  school  teachers,  truant  officers,  doctors  or  other  citi- 
zens having  to  do  with  children.  With  the  telephone  as 
a  means  of  communication,  investigation  of  cases  to  be 
heard  in  court,  as  well  as  the  supervision  of  children 
placed  on  probation,  can  be  accomplished  by  the  paid 
officer  directing  the  volunteers  appointed  to  assist  him. 
From  time  to  time  the  paid  officer  should  cover  the  dif- 
ferent centers  of  population  to  examine  personally  the 
progress  of  each  child  in  the  court's  care. 

If  the  schools  in  the  country  employ  competent  attend- 
ance officers,  they  are  by  far  the  best  public  officers  for 
the  work  of  probation.  Indeed,  if  the  attendance  officers 
are  well  qualified  for  their  work,  they  will  prevent  most 
cases  from  getting  into  court  at  all. 

The  work  in  the  rural  districts  js  particularly  in  need 
of  that  unification  which  comes  from  the  supervision  of 
the  state  board  of  charities,  or  a  state  probation  commis- 
sion as  in  Massachusetts  or  New  York.  In  most  rural 
districts  where  the  number  of  children's  cases  is  small  the 
one  paid  probation  officer  can  direct  the  work  of  super- 
vising adults  as  well  as  children. 

172 


PART  IV 
REPORTS  AND  STATISTICS 

INTRODUCTION 

COMPARATIVELY  little  has  been  done  as  yet  by  juvenile 
courts  in  presenting  to  the  public  intelligible  and  accurate 
statements  of  their  work. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  juvenile  courts  have  not 
been  statistically  studied  and  have  not  themselves  given 
out  results  of  value.  In  the  first  place,  children's  courts 
are  new,  their  methods  experimental,  and  their  records 
irregular,  incomplete  and  not  uniform.  Second,  under 
constant  pressure  of  work,  statistics  and  records  are  either 
neglected  or  held  not  essential.  Again,  such  reports  as 
are  published  are  not  compiled  by  trained  persons  and 
are,  therefore,  so  faulty  from  a  statistical  standpoint  that 
as  yet  only  a  very  few  conform  to  the  most  elementary 
statistical  principles.  Finally,  statisticians  must  depend 
on  the  court  and  probation  office  records,  which  are 
usually  of  little  statistical  value. 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say,  therefore,  that  as  yet 
there  is  no  statistical  material  from  juvenile  courts  that 
affords  a  basis  for  definite,  well-founded  comparisons  be- 
tween different  courts  and  different  communities.  It  is 
evident  that  before  statistical  studies  can  be  made,  the 
courts  must  get  their  material  in  proper  shape  for  in- 
telligent presentation. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

The  following  records  are  necessary  to  prepare  a  sta- 
tistical interpretation  of  a  court's  work:  (i)  a  monthly 
report  from  each  probation  officer,  with  the  exact  record 
of  all  the  children  in  his  care  during  that  month.  This 
is  essential  not  only  for  statistical  purposes,  but  also  for 
the  chief  probation  officer,  or  the  judge,  in  supervising 
and  checking  up  each  officer's  work;  (2)  a  general 
monthly  statistical  report  of  all  cases  before  the  court. 
This  furnishes  a  gauge  of  the  delinquency  and  neglect  in 
the  community ;  (3)  an  annual  report,  provided  it  contains 
an  accurate  record  of  the  court's  business.  The  com- 
munity has  no  means  of  knowing  how  well  the  work  for 
children  is  succeeding,  unless  the  juvenile  court  expresses 
results  in  the  form  of  statistical  facts. 

REPORTS    OF    PROBATION    OFFICERS 

The  monthly  reports  of  probation  officers  should  show 
(i)  the  number  of  children  in  charge  of  each  officer  the 
last  of  each  month;  (2)  the  number  taken  on  during  the 
month;  (3)  the  number  removed.  Delinquent  and  neg- 
lected children  should  be  grouped  separately  under  these 
heads.  The  number  of  reports  made  by  children  and  the 
number  of  visits  made  by  the  probation  officer  should  be 
shown. 

GENERAL    MONTHLY    COURT    REPORT 

The  general  report  of  the  court  for  the  month  should 
include  a  summary  of  the  probation  officers'  reports, 
showing  the  number  of  children  in  charge  of  the  office  the 
last  of  the  month,  the  number  taken  on,  the  number  re- 
moved, and  the  total  business  of  the  office  in  reports  and 


Reports  and  Statistics 

visits  during  the  month.  The  court  exhibit  should  show 
the  number  of  cases  in  court  and  the  methods  of  disposing 
of  them.  It  should  also  include  a  monthly  census  of  the 
children  in  public  and  private  institutions  committed  by 
the  court. 

ANNUAL    REPORTS 

Most  annual  reports  of  juvenile  courts  have  been  pleas- 
ant statements  of  the  good  work  done  embellished  by 
pictures,  with  an  appendix  of  a  few  more  or  less  formi- 
dable tables  —  which  examination  shows  to  have  little  or 
no  statistical  value.  The  statements  of  the  court's  work 
are  usually  superficial  and  do  not  accomplish  the  real  pur- 
pose of  an  annual  report,  which  should  be  to  present  ex- 
actly the  volume  of  the  business  of  the  court  and  the 
methods  of  dealing  -with  it  for  one  year  in  relation  to 
previous  years. 

The  annual  report  should  contain : 

First:  A  brief  historical  and  descriptive  statement  for 
the  unfamiliar  reader,  with  particular  attention  to  the 
year  in  review,  detailing  such  changes  as  have  been  made 
in  the  probation  system  or  any  other  department  of  the 
court. 

Second:  A  careful  analysis  of  the  statistics  presented, 
with  percentage  statements  showing  the  relation  to  pre- 
vious years,  thus  giving  a  complete  picture  of  the  delin- 
quency and  neglect  among  children. 

Third:     Complete  statistical  tables. 

Fourth:  An  appendix  containing  the  laws  relating  to 
neglected  and  delinquent  children ;  and  any  judicial  regu-. 
lations  affecting  the  probation  office  or  the  court. 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

A  more  complete  statement  might  well  cover  the  par- 
ticular problems  which  the  court  has  to  meet ;  its  relation 
to  other  agencies,  a  statement  of  its  expenses,  with  an 
estimate  of  its  benefits,  and  recommendations  for  so  im- 
proving the  work  for  social  betterment  as  to  decrease  the 
volume  of  delinquency  and  neglect. 

The  annual  report  should  be  compiled  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  judge  or  the  chief  probation  officer.  Given 
a  satisfactory  record  of  facts,  who  should  be  charged 
with  their  compilation  ?  Such  a  task  demands  a  trained 
mind.  Reports  compiled  by  a  stenographer,  a  volunteer 
worker,  court  clerk,  or  a  probation  officer  (unless  he  is 
trained  in  statistics)  can  hardly  yield  results  of  value. 
Yet  one  or  another  such  persons  have  usually  been  selected 
for  the  task.  Only  one  or  two  court  reports  yet  published 
have  been  compiled  by  persons  with  adequate  statistical 
training.  It  may  be  said  in  explanation  that  few  juvenile 
courts  can  employ  experts  for  the  purpose  on  account  of 
legal  and  financial  limitations.  But  the  cost  need  not  be 
large.  The  cost  of  tabulating  all  essential  information 
in  looo  cases,  if  the  records  are  in  good  order,  ought  not 
to  exceed  $50.00.  Persons  qualified  to  do  the  work  are 
connected  with  some  public  department  in  every  city  or 
county  of  any  size. 

PRINCIPLES   OF   COUNTING 

Whether  or  not  a  specialist  is  employed,  there  are  cer- 
tain principles  which  must  be  observed,  and  which  need 
recognition  on  the  part  of  those  responsible  for  court 
reports. 

First:  It  is  essential  that  every  case  or  child  counted 

276 


Reports  and  Statistics 

should  actually  have  been  in  court.  Some  courts  have 
an  informal  way  of  handling  cases  "  out  of  court " 
through  probation  officers,  without  any  legal  complaint  or 
action  by  the  judge.  These  cases  are  often  lumped  with 
the  court  statistics.  As  they  are  usually  of  a  petty  char- 
acter—  neighborhood  quarrels,  minor  offenses  and 
misunderstandings  with  parents  —  their  presence  in  the 
totals  of  court  statistics  leads  to  confusion  and  erroneous 
conclusions.  Cases  of  this  kind  are  of  little  or  no  value 
in  throwing  light  on  juvenile  delinquency,  and  should  be 
carefully  separated  from  the  records  of  court  cases.  In 
some  courts  these  "  unofficial  cases  "  or  cases  settled  out 
of  court,  exceed  in  number  those  dealt  with  in  court. 
Considering  the  fact  that  the  law  itself  does  not  recognize 
them,  and  that  the  process  of  law  is  apparently  not  neces- 
sary for  their  solution,  it  is  doubtful  if  they  have  any 
place  in  an  exhibit  of  the  court's  work.  If  counted  at 
all,  the  only  facts  likely  to  be  of  any  value  are  their 
number  and  character.  In  any  event,  they  should  be 
set  forth  distinct  from  court  cases. 

Second:  The  neglected  or  dependent  groups  should  be 
kept  distinct  from  the  delinquent  in  every  table,  and  such 
separation  should  be  based  on  actual  neglect  or  delin- 
quency as  shown  in  the  social  facts  —  not  on  any  tech- 
nical charge  in  court. 

Third:  One  of  the  most  flagrant  errors  in  practically 
all  reports  is  the  confusion  between  cases  and  children. 
It  seems  to  make  no  difference  to  the  tabulator  whether 
there  are  1000  cases  in  court  or  1000  children.  Every 
time  a  name  is  on  the  docket  —  even  if  it  be  the  same 
child  five  times  a  month  —  it  counts  in  the  tables.  Thus, 

177 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

if  John  Jones  is  in  court  6  times  during  the  year,  he 
figures  as  6  in  the  age  table,  as  6  Catholics,  or  6  Prot- 
estants, as  6  foreign-born,  etc.,  etc. 

There  are  certain  tables  (mainly  those  showing  charges 
against  children  and  disposition  of  cases)  which  should 
be  based  upon  the  number  of  cases,  and  certain  other 
tables  (practically  all  the  rest)  which  should  be  based  upon 
the  number  of  individual  children.  So  no  matter  ho\v 
many  times  John  offends,  he  should  count  (except  in 
the  two  or  three  case  tables)  as  one,  and  one  only  for  the 
year.  This  differentiation  of  court  cases  into  two  groups, 
one  dealing  with  the  number  of  cases  and  the  other  with 
the  number  of  individual  children,  is  of  primary  impor- 
tance. 

SUBDIVISION   OF   GROUPS 

Each  table  should,  of  course,  be  subdivided  to  show  the 
facts  by  sex,  and  where  there  are  large  numbers  of 
colored  children  (certainly  where  they  number  10%  or 
more  of  the  whole)  there  should  be  a  subdivision  by 
color  also. 

The  need  of  grouping  by  sex  and  color  is  self-evident 
in  tables  dealing  with  individual  children.  In  tables 
based  upon  court  cases,  however,  a  difficult  problem  arises. 
For  instance,  the  table  below  shows  charges  against  chil- 
dren in  a  juvenile  court  by  cases,  but  subdivided  by  se.r 
and  by  color.  The  subdivisions  do  not  indicate  in- 
dividual children,  but  cases  as  applied  to  children.  This 
gives  rise  to  confusion  in  a  detailed  examination  of  the 
different  groups.  For  instance,  the  six  white  girls  un- 
der "  offenses  against  property  "  may  indicate  one  case 

178 


Reports  and  Statistics 

each  against  six  different  girls,  or  six  cases  against  one 
girl,  or  any  variation  within  these  limits. 

The  confusion  thus  caused  can  be  remedied  only  by 
an  elaborate  system  of  case  and  child  counting,  with 
eight  columns,  four  counted  by  cases  and  four  counted  by 
children,  arranged  side  by  side  so  that  it  will  appear  at  a 
glance  how  far  the  number  of  cases  is  in  excess  in 
any  given  group  of  children.  This  complicated  table  is 
the  only  way  to  present  the  whole  truth.  It  is  extremely 
doubtful  whether  so  elaborate  a  subdivision  is  necessary 
—  certainly  not  for  ordinary  statistical  purposes.  It  is 
better,  therefore,  not  to  subdivide  by  sex  and  color  any 
tables  counted  by  cases,  but  to  give  only  the  totals.  The 
arrangement  of  totals  as  here  shown  (at  the  top  and  in 
the  first  column)  is  to  be  recommended  as  conducive  to 
easy  examination  and  interpretation. 

TABLE   I.       CHARGES 


GIRLS 


White      Colored     White    Colored 


Total  cases  before  court 
Delinquent    

2028 
17^0 

1418 
1279 

287 
280 

266 
123 

57 
48 

(a)      Offenses     against 
property    

512 

39° 

IO7 

6 

9 

Destruction  of  property 
Larceny   

44 
377 

39 

279 

5 
84 

'  6 

's 

Burglary    

88 

70 

18 

Forgery   . 

1 

3 

COMPARISON    WITH   OLD  AND   NEW   CASES 

With  these  principles  of  counting  laid  down  for  all 
tables,  we  must  next  inquire  what  general  grouping  of 

179 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

tables  may  profitably  be  made.  As  the  statistics  in  ques- 
tion apply  to  a  given  year,  it  is  clear  that  all  children 
coming  before  the  court  during  the  year  naturally  fall 
into  two  groups  —  those  who  have  been  in  court  before 
that  year  and  those  who  have  not.  This  grouping  of 
children  is  essential  to  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the 
facts.  The  charges  on  which  children  reappear  in  court, 
the  dispositions  made  on  a  second  or  third  appearance, 
the  social  or  home  conditions  of  children  who  come  back 
to  court  —  all  are  questions  intensely  significant  of  the 
child-life  of  the  community,  especially  in  comparison  with 
those  children  coming  to  court  for  the  first  time  in  that 
year. 

This  division  has  been  recognized  by  the  United  States 
Census  in  the  Juvenile  Court  Statistics  appearing  in  the 
Social  Statistics  of  Cities  (1908),  but  is  limited  to  first 
and  second  appearances  in  court  and  the  disposition  on  a 
basis  of  these  appearances,  a  method  which  starts  out  with 
the  right  point-of-view,  but  fails  to  be  of  practical  value 
because  it  is  so  incompletely  carried  out  A  second  ap- 
pearance in  court  may  mean  something  or  nothing,  ac- 
cording to  the  charge  preferred. 

But  where  year  can  be  compared  with  year,  on  the 
basis  of  a  grouping  of  old  and  new  cases,  a  real  standard 
of  measurement  of  the  conditions  of  child-life  and  of 
the  processes  of  the  court  can  be  set  up.  It  may  often 
be  desirable  to  make  a  further  division  of  the  groups,  be- 
cause the  children  who  were  in  court  before  the  year 
in  question  (that  is,  the  old  cases)  themselves  divide 
naturally  into  two  groups  —  ( I )  those  who  were  in  court 
and  who  were  released  from  its  care  before  the  beginning 

1 80 


Reports  and  Statistics 

of  the  year  in  question,  and  (2)  those  who  were  still 
under  the  court's  care  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  and 
who  came  into  court  on  some  new  charge  during  the 
year.  This  latter  group  includes  children  on  probation, 
parole,  or  in  institutions  subject  to  the  court's  order. 
For  the  purpose  of  examining  the  success  of  the  court's 
methods,  we  should  group  the  facts  about  these  children 
in  the  court's  care  who  come  in  on  fresh  charges  or  for 
a  new  cause,  so  as  to  compare  them  with  those  who  come 
in  entirely  new,  and  also  with  those  who  came  in  before 
the  year  in  question  and  were  released  —  either  with  or 
without  some  process  on  the  part  of  the  court.  A  com- 
plete record  demands  such  a  grouping  of  cases.  As  a 
minimum  requirement,  the  separation  of  old  and  new 
cases  must  certainly  be  made. 

WHAT   TABLES? 

Having  determined  the  general  principles  of  tabulation, 
the  next  question  is,  what  tables  to  compile  ?  This  ques- 
tion is  to  be  answered  somewhat  by  local  conditions  which 
might  make  certain  tables  valuable  for  comparison  with 
facts  known  of  the  community  at  large.  For  instance, 
if  the  children  of  a  community  are  all  medically  inspected 
in  the  schools  and  the  facts  are  known,  it  would  be  highly 
interesting  to  compare  the  same  group  of  facts  among 
court  children.  But  without  the  data  for  the  community 
at  large,  the  facts  relating  to  Juvenile  Court  children 
would  be  of  much  less  value. 

In  the  same  way,  many  groups  of  facts  have  so  little 
value  for  lack  of  comparative  facts  relating  to  the  chil- 
dren of  the  community  at  large,  that  they  may  well  be 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

omitted.  The  use  to  which  figures  can  be  put  is  the 
only  justification  for  their  compilation.  If  their  inter- 
pretation is  doubtful,  speculative  or  perhaps  misleading 
through  absence  of  comparative  data,  they  should  be 
omitted. 

Briefly,  tables  should  be  given  which  show:  first,  the 
volume  of  business  of  the  court,  the  charges  on  which 
children  come  to  it,  and  the  methods  of  disposition; 
second,  such  social  facts  regarding  these  children  (a) 
as  can  be  compared  with  those  of  children  at  large;  or 
(b)  as  find  a  basis  of  comparison  in  the  court's  previous 
records ;  or  (c)  as  are  of  interest  because  they  are  signifi- 
cant without  comparison.  We  may  sometimes  gain  valu- 
able results,  for  instance,  from  a  study  of  the  parental 
condition  of  delinquent  children  before  the  court,  since 
that  is  so  essential  a  factor  in  their  delinquency. 
Other  groups  of  tables  which  can  be  added  with  profit 
are  those  showing  the  success  and  failure  of  probation, 
and  the  social  facts  characteristic  of  the  group  of  chil- 
dren at  any  one  time  in  the  care  of  the  probation  office. 

It  has  often  been  suggested  that  comparisons  be  made 
between  offenses  and  the  facts  showing  social  conditions. 
Such  comparisons  are  often  valuable  in  a  study  of  crime 
among  adults,  as  there  is  a  certain  relation  between  of- 
fenses and  social  conditions,  where  the  individual  is  act- 
ing freely.  Among  children,  however,  the  specific 
offense  itself  is  of  minor  consequence,  for  children  lead 
more  or  less  directed  and  controlled  lives.  They  are  not 
free  to  act  as  an  adult.  Moreover,  the  particular  offense 
charged  may  be  quite  accidental,  the  same  boy  possibly 
having  done  half  a  dozen  other  wrong  deeds  on  the  same 

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Reports  and  Statistics 

day.  A  boy  brought  in  for  larceny  may  be  a  truant,  a 
runaway,  a  crapshooter,  a  cigarette-smoker,  or  any  one  of 
a  dozen  brands  which  are  marked  for  the  court. 

The  groups  of  offenses,  distinguishing  between  offenses 
against  the  person,  property,  peace  and  morals,  have  in- 
deed considerable  significance.  If  the  offenses  are 
grouped  on  the  actual  deed,  not  on  a  technical  charge,  a 
comparison  of  social  factors  with  groups  of  offenses 
might  be  of  value.  The  same  importance  cannot  be  at- 
tached to  offense  classification  among  children  as  among 
adults. 

The  following  tables  are  recommended  as  setting  forth 
the  minimum  information  which  a  well-organized  court 
should  present: 

(i)  Charges  on  which  children  appeared  before  the 
court,  counted  by  cases. 

(a)  Assault 

(b)  Theft    (including  all   forms  of   appropriating 
property,  such  as  forgery,  robbery,  driving  off 
vehicles,  etc.). 

(c)  Sex  offenses  (including  fornication,  lewd  acts, 
exposure  of  the  person  and  the  like). 

(d)  Wayward   children    (including  runaways,   so- 
called  incorrigibles,  etc.). 

(e)  Gambling. 

(f)  Intoxication. 

(g)  Disturbing  the  peace   (including  street  fights, 
trespass  and  the  like,  usually  offenses  committed 
by  groups  of  boys  together). 

(h)  Violating  city  ordinances  (including  only  such 
ordinances  as  are  police  regulations,  offenses  in 
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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

one  community  and  possibly  not  in  another;  in 
other  words,  having  little  relation  to  a  standard 
of  right  conduct  These  include  playing  ball 
on  the  streets;  building  fires  on  lots;  violations 
of  license  regulations  and  the  like). 

(i)  Truancy. 

(j)  Violations  of  probation  and  parole. 

(k)   Neglected  children. 

(2)  Dispositions  of  cases  before  the  court,  counted  by 
cases. 

(3)  Manner  of  bringing  cases  to  court,  i.e.,  by  police, 
attendance  officers,  etc.,  counted  by  cases  and  subdivided 
into  boys  and  girls  (white  and  colored,  where  necessary). 

(4)  Number  of  times  children  in  court  during  the  year 
had  ever  been  before  the  court  on  charges;  counted  by 
children,  subdivided  as  No.  3. 

(5)  Ages  of  children  before  the  court,  counted  by  chil- 
dren, subdivided  as  No.  3. 

(6)  Nativity  of  children  before  the  court,  counted  by 
children,  subdivided  into  boys  and  girls  only  (not  colored 
and  white,  of  course)  grouped  by  foreign  born ;  born  of 
foreign  parents,  one  or  both ;  and  born  of  native  parents. 
(In  some  cities  with  large  foreign  groups,  subdivision  may 
be  better  made  by  races  or  nationality.) 

(7)  Parental  condition,  counted  by  children;  grouped 
under  (i)  parents  together,  (capable  or  incapable)  ;  (2) 
parents  not  together,    (separated  by  death,  divorce  or 
separation,  step-parent  in  place  of  parent  lost). 

In  these  tables  are  included  all  the  facts  which  can  be 
treated  statistically  with  success.  Facts  relating  to  phys- 
ical condition,  religion  and  housing  conditions,  school  or 

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Reports  and  Statistics 

employment  record,  are  subjects  for  special  study.  Other 
facts  than  these,  even  when  properly  noted  on  record 
blanks,  are  difficult  to  treat  statistically.  Such  facts  are 
the  notations  in  regard  to  habits,  characteristics,  associ- 
ates, etc. 

When  the  facts  outlined  above  are  presented  by  con- 
trasting tables  of  old  and  new  cases,  it  is  essential  to  have 
these  tables  printed  on  opposite  pages,  with  a  percentage ' 
column  added  to  each  table  so  that  the  comparison  of 
facts  for  old  and  new  cases  may  be  made  at  a  glance. 

In  addition  to  the  tables  covering  the  facts  for  one  year, 
there  should  be  a  group  of  tables  affording  comparisons 
with  previous  years.  Charges  and  dispositions  are  of 
greatest  importance  as  showing  the  extent  and  character 
of  delinquency  and  neglect  in  the  court's  work. 

SUMMARY 

The  main  principles  set  forth  may  be  summarised  as 
follows: 

(1)  The  necessity  of  a  complete  record  of  the  social 
facts  regarding  each  child. 

(2)  The  compilation  of  statistics  from  these  records 
only  by  a  person  experienced  in  statistical  work. 

(3)  The  separation  of  tables  into  (i)  groups  counted 
by  cases  and  (2)  groups  counted  by  individual  children. 

(4)  The  separation  of  cases  actually  before  the  court 
and  those  settled  outside  court  (where  this  system  pre- 
vails)  and  the  separation  of  delinquent  and  neglected 
children  on  a  basis  of  the  actual  facts  in  each  case. 

( 5 )  Subdivisions  to  show  sex,  and,  where  colored  chil- 
dren are  numerous,  color  groups. 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

(6)  The  division  of  tables  into  four  groups: 

(a)  Tables  of  all  children  before  court  during  the 
year. 

(b)  Tables  of  new  children  only. 

(c)  Tables  of  old  cases  re-appearing. 

(d)  Tables  of  children  in  care  of  the  court  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  and  appearing  in  court 
on  new  complaints  during  the  year. 

(7)  The  compilation  of  such  tables  only  as  deal  either 
(i)    with   the  volume   of  court  business  and   methods 
(charges  and  dispositions),  or  (2)  with  social  facts  that 
can  be  compared  with  the  community  at  large,  with  past 
years  of  the  court  and  with  groups  of  offenses  (not  of- 
fenses themselves),  (3)  the  success  or  failure  of  the  pro- 
bation method. 

MAPS 

A  number  of  courts  have  attempted  to  study  the  sources 
of  delinquency  and  neglect  through  the  preparation  of 
maps  of  the  city  or  county  showing  the  place  of  residence 
of  children  who  come  before  the  court  within  a  given 
year.  None  of  the  maps  has  been  worked  out  with 
enough  care  to  be  used  as  a  model.  Such  a  map,  however, 
can  be  of  great  use  in  interpreting  the  effects  of  the  work 
of  the  court  and  other  agencies  for  the  better  care  of 
children.  Every  court,  whether  in  a  city  or  county  should 
undertake  the  preparation  of  a  map  showing  the  homes 
of  the  new  cases  of  neglected  and  delinquent  children 
coming  before  the  court  during  the  year.  Such  a  map 
is  useful  for  the  following  purposes : 

I.  For  showing  graphically  from  what  parts  of  the 

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Reports  and  Statistics 

city  or  county  neglected  or  delinquent  children  come,  as 
a  basis  for  discovering  such  conditions  as  may  tend  to 
produce  delinquency  or  neglect. 

2.  For   comparing   the   sources   of   delinquency   and 
neglect  year  by  year,  as  a  basis  for  estimating  what  factors 
are  reducing  or  increasing  its  volume. 

3.  For  comparison  with  other  maps  showing,  for  in- 
stance, density  of  population,  the  location  of  playgrounds 
and   similar   social   agencies,   foreign-speaking  districts, 
colored  districts,  etc. 

Care  must  be  used  in  selecting  the  cases  of  children  to 
be  shown  on  the  map.  It  is  useless  to  include  all  children 
who  come  before  the  court,  for  many  of  them  are  dis- 
missed or  discharged,  some  of  them  "  not  guilty,"  others 
guilty  of  such  trivial  offenses  as  not  to  warrant  action  by 
the  court.  For  instance,  it  would  be  foolish  to  include 
a  normally  good  boy  found  guilty  of  throwing  a  rock  and 
discharged  with  a  warning,  when  fifty  boys  throw  rocks 
and  never  come  to  court  at  all.  What  the  map  should 
show  are  the  homes  of  those  children,  neglected  or  delin- 
quent, for  whom  some  action  by  the  court  is  necessary, 
-who  are  in  such  a  condition  that  they  need  the  care, 
protection  or  discipline  of  the  court's  officers. 

Therefore,  there  should  be  included  only  neglected  and 
delinquent  children  who  are  put  on  probation  during  the 
year  for  which  the  map  was  made,  or  who  are  committed 
to  institutions  or  fined  (where  the  fining  system  obtains). 

Only  the  new  cases  coming  to  court  during  the  year 
should  be  included.  Children  on  probation  or  under  the 
guardianship  of  the  court,  brought  back  to  court  for  a 
new  offense,  should  be  excluded,  since  they  are  already 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

under  the  court's  jurisdiction.  This,  then,  will  show  as 
accurately  as  possible  the  volume  of  fresh  delinquency 
and  neglect  coming  into  the  court  in  a  given  year. 

The  best  method  of  marking  the  map  is  to  use  a  colored 
dot  for  the  home  of  each  child  —  one  color  being  used  for 
delinquent  and  one  for  neglected  children.  A  small  rub- 
ber stamp  with  an  ink  pad  is  doubtless  the  simplest  and 
most  satisfactory  marking  device.  The  map  should  be 
kept  up  systematically  each  week. 

USE    OF    STATISTICS 

The  chief  value  of  these  statistics,  however  well  com- 
piled and  clearly  set  out,  is  as  a  basis  for  an  intelligent 
text  discussion  and  analysis.  It  requires  a  long  and  care- 
ful study  of  any  extensive  group  of  statistics  to  interpret 
correctly  their  significance  to  the  community.  Statistics 
are  only  a  means  to  an  end,  and  their  proper  interpretation 
is  a  more  exacting  task  than  their  compilation.  Too  often 
we  find  statistics  complete  in  themselves,  but  almost  value- 
less because  they  are  not  properly  interpreted. 

UNIFORMITY    FOR    STATES 

A  striking  feature  in  the  juvenile  court  movement  is 
the  irregular  development  of  juvenile  courts  organized  in 
the  same  state  under  the  same  law.  One  court  in  a  given 
state  may  be  doing  excellent  work  and  another  very  poor 
work.  Much  of  the  difficulty  is  due  to  the  general  lack 
of  knowledge  of  desirable  and  approved  methods.  Uni- 
form development  can  be  stimulated  and  the  best  methods 
adopted  only  through  some  central  state  bureau  for  the 
exchange  of  ideas  and  information. 

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Reports  and  Statistics 

In  Massachusetts  and  New  York  this  central  bureau, 
the  State  Probation  Commission,  not  only  does  this,  but 
also  directs  in  detail  the  probation  work  of  the  state.  In 
several  other  states  some  central  body,  such  as  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  Correction,  acts  as  the  clearing 
house  and  information  bureau.  This  leads  to  practically 
uniform  records,  in  the  courts,  and  similar  methods.  The 
collection  of  statistical  matter  by  either  a  state  board  or 
by  a  probation  commission,  as  in  New  York  or  Massa- 
chusetts, is  valuable  in  showing  the  success  of  probation. 

These  state  commissions  on  probation  collect  informa- 
tion from  probation  officers  concerning  each  individual 
case  under  their  care.  The  reports  of  the  probation  offi- 
cers to  the  state  commissions  contain  the  name,  age,  and 
address  of  each  probationer,  and  indicate  the  results  at 
the  close  of  each  case.  In  other  words,  they  maintain 
a  central  bureau  of  case  records  for  the  entire  state.  This 
facilitates  the  detection  of  repeaters,  and  is  helpful  when 
it  is  desirable  to  transfer  probationers  from  one  jurisdic- 
tion to  another.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  records  are 
treated  as  confidential,  and  in  no  wise  jeopardize  the  in- 
terests of  the  adults  or  children.  On  the  basis  of  these 
case  reports,  the  commissions  compile  statistical  reports 
for  the  entire  state  and  for  each  of  its  courts.  Statistics 
compiled  by  the  central  state  authorities  from  such  case 
reports  are  more  likely  to  be  complete,  accurate  and  help- 
ful than  are  statistics  made  up  by  gathering  together  the 
statistical  reports  received  from  the  several  courts  or 
probation  officers. 

The  reports  which  a  central  body  compiles  monthly  or 
annually  regarding  the  use  and  extent  of  probation  should, 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

of  course,  comply  with  statistical  standards.  A  form  of 
report  recommended  is  given  herewith  (page  233).  In 
this  connection,  there  should  be  noted  also  the  discussion 
of  statistical  principles  on  pages  176  to  178,  which  have 
a  bearing  on  state  reports,  as  well  as  the  annual  reports 
of  courts.  Indeed,  as  a  practical  matter,  annual  reports 
can  be  expected  only  from  the  larger  courts  which  have 
a  considerable  volume  of  business.  The  smaller  courts 
which  have  only  a  comparatively  few  cases,  will  naturally 
not  publish  separate  reports.  Their  statistical  material 
can  be  shown  only  through  the  annual  reports  of  a  State 
Board  of  Charities  or  a  State  Commission. 

The  most  desirable  information  is  that  which  is  most 
easily  collected  for  these  state  reports.  As  shown  on 
the  recommended  form,  the  items  are  (i)  the  number 
of  children  before  each  court  each  month,  subdivided 
into  boys  and  girls,  and,  where  necessary,  into  colored 
and  white,  giving  the  charges  on  which  they  were 
brought  to  court,  and  (2)  the  dispositions  of  their  cases. 
In  addition  to  this,  reports  should  contain  a  census  of 
all  the  children  in  the  care  of  the  court  the  first  of  each 
month ;  the  number  on  probation ;  the  number  discharged 
from  probation;  the  number  committed  from  probation 
to  institutions,  and  the  number  in  institutions. 

TERMINOLOGY 

The  terms  used  in  various  parts  of  the  country  to 
designate  different  aspects  of  probation  work,  vary  con- 
siderably, and  are  at  times  confusing.  For  instance, 
"  probation  "  and  "  parole  "  are  in  some  places  used  inter- 
changeably. In  most  places  "  committed  "  ordinarily  and 

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Reports  and  Statistics 

properly  signifies  commitment  to  an  institution,  but  in 
other  localities,  when  probation  officers  use  the  word 
"  commit "  they  mean  "  placed  on  probation."  Other 
terms  used  in  different  localities  to  signify  the  placing 
of  children  on  probation  include  "  released  on  proba- 
tion," "  probationed,"  "paroled,"  and  "probated." 

Of  course,  the  nomenclature  in  the  different  states 
must  conform  within  certain  limits  to  the  language  of 
the  statutes,  but,  for  the  most  part,  the  terms  are  not 
prescribed  by  law,  and  it  may  not  be  too  much  to  hope 
that  the  language  of  future  legislation  may  lend  itself 
more  than  in  the  past  to  a  uniform  terminology. 

Following  are  some  suggested  definitions  and  distinc- 
tions : 

Parole  is  the  conditional  release  of  children  from  an 
institution  under  the  care  of  a  parole  officer. 

Probation  is  the  conditional  release  of  delinquent  chil- 
dren by  a  court  without  commitment  to  an  institution, 
but  under  the  oversight  of  a  probation  officer. 

A  child  is  said  to  be  "  put "  or  "  placed  on  probation." 
We  disapprove  of  the  word  "  probated  "  in  this  connec- 
tion. The  word  "  probationed "  is  objectionable,  but 
owing  to  its  comparative  brevity,  it  may  in  time  come 
into  good  usage. 

A  child  placed  on  probation  is  known  as  a  "  proba- 
tioner." 

The  best  adjective  phrase  to  use  in  referring  to  proba- 
tion is  "  probationary."  The  rules  and  regulations  pre- 
scribed by  the  court  or  probation  officer  for  the  proba- 
tioner to  observe  while  on  probation,  are  known  as  the 
"  probationary  conditions." 

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Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

A  child  who  transgresses  or  fails  to  observe  the  pro- 
bationary conditions  may  be  said  to  violate  the  "  proba- 
tionary conditions  "  or  better  to  "  fail  in  observing  "  the 
"  probationary  conditions,"  or  more  briefly  "  violate  his 
probation." 

A  probationer  who  runs  away  or  disappears,  without 
permission,  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  or  the 
oversight  of  the  probation  officer,  may  be  said  either  to 
"  default,"  to  "  abscond  "  to  "  disappear,"  or  to  "  become 
a  fugitive."  The  term  "  disappear "  is  perhaps  the 
best. 

When  a  probationer  satisfactorily  completes  the  proba- 
tionary period,  he  may  be  said  to  "  have  finished  his 
probation,"  or  "  to  be  discharged  from  probation." 

If  a  probationer  fails  to  observe  the  probationary  con- 
ditions and  the  court  decides  to  resort  to  some  other 
treatment,  the  action  taken  by  the  court  in  canceling  or 
ending  the  probation  is  often  called  "  revoking  the  pro- 
bation," using  a  similar  phrase  as  in  connection  with  a 
parole. 

The  investigations  made  by  probation  officers  concern- 
ing the  history,  character  and  circumstances  of  children 
before  their  cases  are  adjudged  by  the  court,  are  in  most 
places  known  as  "  preliminary  investigations."  The  ad- 
jective "  preliminary "  is  used  to  distinguish  these  in- 
vestigations from  the  investigations  made  after  the  child 
is  placed  on  probation.  Preliminary  investigations  refer, 
therefore,  to  investigations  prior  to  probation  or  other 
disposition  of  the  case.  Subsequent  investigations  are 
known  simply  as  "  investigations."  Since  the  word 
"  investigation  "  often  implies  rather  superficial  examina- 

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Reports  and  Statistics 

tions,  some  persons  prefer  the  term  "  inquiry "  and 
"  preliminary  inquiry."  The  word  "  investigation  "  is, 
however,  customary  and  satisfactory. 

Probation  officers  may  be  divided  into  the  following 
groups : 

(a)  Salaried  probation  officer,  those  receiving  com- 
pensation from  public  funds  under  the  title  of  probation 
officer. 

(b)  Detailed     probation     officers,     those     detailed 
from  other  branches  of  the  public  service  to  do  proba- 
tion work,  but  receiving  their  salary  under  another  title 
than  that  of  probation  officer. 

(c)  Private  probation  officers,  those  paid  by  private 
societies,  organizations,  or  individuals  to  act  as  probation 
officers. 

(d)  Volunteer  probation  officers,  those  doing  proba- 
tion work  without  compensation  from  any  source. 


193 


PART  V 
FORMS 

INTRODUCTION 

No  juvenile  court  can  operate  successfully  unless  the 
legal  and  business  forms,  which  constitute  the  back-bone 
of  its  business,  are  systematically  worked  out.  Failure  to 
devise  such  a  system  is  responsible  for  the  chaotic  or 
ragged  work  in  scores  of  courts.  For  the  most  part,  the 
clerks  of  the  court  use  the  same  or  similar  business  meth- 
ods and  blanks  for  juvenile  court  cases  as  they  have  been 
using  for  years  in  the  adult  criminal  courts.  The  proba- 
tion officers'  forms,  excepting  in  a  very  few  courts,  have 
not  been  systematized. 

Wherever  a  court  handles  a  large  number  of  cases,  and 
a  number  of  different  persons  constantly  use  the  records, 
they  should  be  typewritten,  in  order  to  facilitate  read- 
ing. In  the  smaller  courts,  where  they  are  consulted 
by  only  a  few  persons,  they  may  well  be  kept  in  writ- 
ing. 

The  legal  forms  kept  by  the  clerk  of  the  court  and 
the  records  kept  by  the  probation  officers  should  be  en- 
tirely separate.  The  clerk's  records  are  the  legal  records 
of  the  court  and  must  be  kept  on  forms  determined  by 
the  need  for  exact  legal  language  and  requirements  in 
the  infrequent  cases  of  appeal  from  the  court's  decision. 

194 


Forms 

The  probation  officer's  records  on  the  other  hand  are 
from  a  legal  standpoint  merely  memoranda,  and  while 
they  are  the  essential  records,  so  far  as  the  children  are 
concerned,  there  is  no  need  for  their  meeting  any  legally 
prescribed  form. 

Good  forms  are  to  be  judged  by  the  simplicity  and 
completeness  with  which  they  answer  their  purpose. 
They  are  rare.  The  usual  printed  form  is  complicated 
and  unintelligible,  characterized  by  badly-selected  type, 
much  waste  space,  and  unnecessary  words. 

It  is  first  essential  not  to  waste  space.  The  three  most 
convenient  sizes,  whether  filed  flat  or  in  envelopes,  are, 
first,  the  legal  size,  8^2  X  13,  which,  folded  three  times, 
fits  into  an  ordinary  size  envelope  or  large  filing  box; 
the  ordinary  letter  size,  8y2  X  n,  which  folded  twice, 
fits  into  the  legal  size  envelope  and  ordinary  letter  file; 
the  card  size,  3 %  X  5  or  7,  which  fits  any  of  the  larger 
envelopes  or  flat  files. 

For  a  flat  filing  system,  which  is  usually  far  preferable 
to  the  envelope  file,  the  letter  size,  8^  X  n,  is  cus- 
tomary, though  flat  files  are  also  made  to  hold  the  legal 
size,  8^2  X  13-  In  either  case,  all  sizes  of  paper  smaller 
than  the  size  of  the  file  itself  should  be  of  the  same  width, 
8^3  inches,  whatever  the  length. 

The  arrangement  of  type  and  space  should  be  worked 
out  carefully.  Type-faces  should  be  as  nearly  uniform 
as  possible.  All  waste  space  should  be  eliminated.  Dif- 
ferent forms  can  be  distinguished  easily  by  using  colored 
papers.  All  forms  should  be  designated  by  number, 
printed  in  small  figures  in  a  prescribed  place  on  each 
form. 

195 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

LEGAL  RECORDS  KEPT  BY  THE  CLERK 

It  is  possible  in  all  juvenile  courts  to  draft  the  legal 
forms  and  to  keep  the  legal  records  so  that,  while  meet- 
ing the  requirements  of  law,  they  will  also  represent  the 
spirit  and  the  procedure  of  the  children's  court.  The 
following  are  the  legal  papers  most  commonly  in  use  in 
the  juvenile  court: 

1.  The   complaint   or  petition   on   which   a   child   is 
brought  to  court.     This  is  the  usual  legal  size  (8^2  X  13 
inches)   setting  forth  the  facts  in  the  language  of  the 
statute  and  sworn  to  either  by  the  complainant,  a  proba- 
tion officer,  or  an  attendance  (truant)  officer. 

2.  The  papers  used  to  secure  the  attendance  of  chil- 
dren and  witnesses  in  court:     (i)  the  subpena;  (2)  the 
summons,  and  (3)  the  warrant.     The  warrant  is  used  in 
juvenile  courts  only  after  the  summons  has  failed.     In 
case  the  subpena  (which  is  used  for  witnesses  only)  fails 
to  bring  in  a  witness,  an  order  called  an  attachment  is 
issued,  under  which  the  witness  may  be  brought  to  court 
bodily  by  the  sheriff. 

3.  Papers  used  in  making  disposition  of  cases,  chiefly, 
commitment   papers   to    institutions,    of    which    one    is 
usually  delivered  to  the  institution,  and  a  duplicate  signed 
by  the  institution's  head  as  a  receipt. 

4.  Orders  on  institutions  for  release  of  children  who 
are  to  be  returned  to  court  for  parole. 

Practically  no  courts  require  legal  papers  for  dis- 
charges or  dismissals,  or  for  the  placing  of  children  on 
probation.  In  some  courts  petitions  in  legal  form  are 
filed  by  the  clerk  when  a  probation  officer  desires  to  bring 

196 


Forms 

a  child  back  to  court  on  a  charge  of  violating  his  proba- 
tion of  parole.  Usually,  however,  only  a  summons  is 
used. 

5.  The  court  docket,  usually  kept  in  a  book,  arranged 
to  provide  one  column  for  the  names  of  the  defendants, 
and  a  memorandum  of  the  charge  of  delinquency  or 
neglect,  and  another  column  for  entering  the  court's  find- 
ing and  disposition.     In  some  courts  unfortunately  the 
criminal  terminology  is  still  used,  and  the  exact  offense, 
such  as  larceny,  burglary,  etc.,  is  placed  after  each  name. 

Under  this  method  of  preparing  the  docket,  the  clerk 
transcribes  the  judge's  memoranda  in  legal  form  in  a 
larger  docket  book.  In  many  courts  no  docket  book 
is  kept,  the  dispositions  being  noted  on  the  complaints 
or  petitions.  The  clerk  either  writes  out  or  type- 
writes in  the  docket  book  the  disposition  in  legal  terms 
or  stamps  the  legal  form  with  a  rubber  stamp  on  the  com- 
plaint itself. 

6.  The  clerk's  record  system.     In  most  courts  the 
clerk's  records  are  kept  in  ledgers  and  books,  indexed  by 
numbers  of  cases.     This  is  an  old-fashioned  and  unbusi- 
nesslike system,  for  to  find  the  name  of  a  given  child  it 
is  necessary  to  search  through  a  long  list  of  names  be- 
ginning with  the  same  letter,  unless,  of  course,  the  in- 
quirer happens  to  know  the  number  of  the  case  under 
which  that  child  was  heard  in  court. 

Most  courts  follow  the  old-fashioned  system  of  placing 
papers  in  pouches  or  wrappers,  which. are  filed  away  by 
name  or  number  in  filing  cases.  The  much  preferable 
flat-filing  system  is  rarely  used  by  clerks  of  courts.  In 
most  courts  the  pouches  or  wrappers  are  filed  away  by 

197 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

case  numbers,  because  the  chief  consideration  from  a 
strictly  legal  standpoint  seems  to  be  not  the  child,  but  the 
case  number.  So  if  one  child  comes  to  court  five  times 
in  a  given  year,  he  has  five  cases  involving  him  filed  in 
five  places  under  five  different  numbers  in  the  clerk's 
record.  That  system  should  be  changed  to  provide  a 
card  index  of  children's  names,  referring  to  the  number 
of  the  pouches  or  folders  containing  all  the  information 
about  any  given  child. 

The  flat-filing  system  is  the  logical  and  business-like 
method.  Filing  the  folders  by  numbers  rather  than 
alphabetically  is  to  be  preferred  because  at  the  end  of  a 
year  the  "  dead  "  cases  can  be  transferred  and  put  out  of 
the  way.  Under  an  alphabetical  filing  system,  all  the 
cases  in  court  for  many  years  must  be  kept  together. 

The  most  desirable  method  is  for  the  clerk  and  proba- 
tion officer  to  use  a  joint  card-index  system,  alphabet- 
ically arranged  and  referring  on  the  one  hand  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  record  about  a  child  in  the  clerk's  files  and 
on  the  other  hand  to  the  number  of  the  folder  or  envel- 
ope in  the  files  of  the  probation  office.  In  that  way, 
both  the  clerk  and  the  probation  officer  are  able  to  se- 
cure information  in  regard  to  any  child  on  a  moment's 
notice. 

THE   PROBATION    OFFICER'S   RECORD   AND   FILING 
SYSTEM 

Most  probation  office  forms  are  poorly  prepared  and 
very  irregularly  kept.  Even  when  they  are  well  enough 
indexed  to  be  readily  found,  the  cards  and  papers  are 
often  written  over  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  practically  illeg- 

198 


Forms 

ible;  are  allowed  to  become  torn,  blotted,  or  dirty,  and 
altogether  present  a  most  unbusinesslike  appearance. 
Business  methods  and  system  are  essential  to  good  work, 
for  successful  probation  means  in  large  part  freedom 
from  the  annoyances  of  poorly  arranged  clerical  work. 
In  offices  which  do  not  have  a  good  system  it  will  be 
found  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  secure,  free  of 
charge,  the  services  of  some  office-supply  company,  which 
will  be  glad  to  map  out  a  system,  in  the  hope,  of  course, 
of  securing  some  portion  of  the  order  for  installation. 
Comparison  of  the  suggestions  of  several  such  supply 
companies  will  usually  result  in  the  adoption  of  a  well- 
conceived  system. 

Many  probation  offices  are  conducted  in  the  same  old- 
fashioned  way  in  which  many  courts  are  carried  on  (the 
records  kept  in  ink  in  books,  the  alphabetical  index  ap- 
pearing page  after  page,  the  first  letter  only  being  alpha- 
betically arranged)  making  it  thus  impossible  to  locate 
John  Brown  without  going  through  several  pages  of  B's. 
An  intelligible  system  should  be  run,  of  course,  on  the 
alphabetical  principle,  or,  when  books  are  used  for  records 
of  cases,  on  the  loose-leaf  principle.  That  method  alone 
insures  exact  alphabetical  order. 

The  names  of  all  the  children  handled  by  the  court  or 
probation  office  should  be  recorded  in  a  general  card  in- 
dex, alphabetically  arranged,  on  which  the  name  and 
address  of  each  child  should  appear,  together  with  a  refer- 
ence to  the  file  containing  the  papers  in  the  case.  The 
various  papers  in  regard  to  any  one  child  should  be  kept 
in  one  place.  The  system  of  flat-filing  in  an  ordinary 
correspondence  folder  is  much  to  be  preferred  over  en- 

199 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

velopes  or  pouches.  The  folding  and  wrapping  of  papers 
not  only  takes  time,  but  soils  papers  and  subjects  them  to 
greater  damage  than  flat-filing.  //  these  Hat  files  are 
numbered  and  kept  in  numerical  order,  it  is  then  a  simple 
matter  to  refer  to  any  child  by  looking  up  his  number 
on  the  alphabetical  index  card.  Such  a  numerical  system 
of  filing  has  the  advantage  over  an  alphabetical  filing  sys- 
tem of  enabling  each  year's  accumulation  to  be  transferred 
to  "  storage  boxes."  Only  the  most  active  current  cases, 
or  at  most  the  current  year's  cases  and  those  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  need  to  be  kept  at  hand. 

The  system  of  indexing  and  filing  outlined  is  the  sim- 
plest that  can  be  devised.  It  has  been  successfully 
worked  out  in  several  courts  after  conference  with  the 
representatives  of  a  number  of  office  supply  houses,  all 
of  whom  agreed  that  from  the  standpoint  of  time-saving 
and  business  efficiency,  that  system  is  best  adapted  to  the 
work  of  the  Juvenile  Court.  It  has  three  manifest  ad- 
vantages: first,  the  general  card  index  offers  a  speedy 
and  ready  reference  to  every  case  at  any  time  before  the 
court;  second,  the  Hat-filing  system,  which  can  be  kept  in 
close  proximity  in  filing  cases,  affords  a  neat  and  con- 
venient method  for  keeping  papers;  third,  only  the  active 
cases,  to  which  frequent  reference  is  made,  need  be  kept 
immediately  accessible. 

SPECIAL  INDEXES 

In  addition  to  the  system  outlined,  it  is  usually  neces- 
sary in  probation  offices  to  have  several  special  indexes. 
Certain  groups  of  children  under  the  court's  jurisdiction 
often  have  to  be  looked  up  quickly  or  counted  as  a  group. 

200 


Forms 

For  instance,  the  question  continually  is  asked  in  large 
probation  offices  whether  or  not  Will  Jones  or  Sam  Smith 
is  on  probation.  To  answer  the  question  ordinarily  re- 
quires a  search  for  Will  Jones'  or  Sam  Smith's  name  in 
the  index  and  a  reference  to  the  file,  which  would  show 
the  disposition  in  court.  A  much  briefer  method  is  to 
arrange  an  alphabetical  card  index  of  all  the  children  on 
probation,  noting  the  name  of  the  officer  in  charge  of 
each  child.  Such  a  card,  at  a  glance,  answers  two  im- 
portant questions:  first,  whether  Will  Jones  or  Sam 
Smith  is  on  probation,  and,  second,  who  is  responsible 
for  him.  Again,  the  same  question  comes  up  in  regard 
to  children  in  institutions.  A  search  would  ordinarily 
have  to  be  made  in  both  index  and  file  to  give  the  answer. 
But  a  special  index  of  all  the  children  in  institutions, 
alphabetically  arranged  by  institutions,  together  with  the 
date  of  commitment,  answers  that  and  related  questions 
at  once. 

Where  such  indexes  of  children  in  care  of  the  proba- 
tion office,  and  children  in  the  various  institutions  have 
been  kept,  they  have  been  found  invaluable  in  saving  time 
and  in  expediting  the  work  of  probation  officers.  They 
are  not  difficult  to  keep  up,  even  in  a  large  court,  provided 
a  few  minutes'  time  can  be  given  to  them  each  day  by  a 
clerk  or  stenographer.  They  would  prevent  the  many  in- 
stances of  needless  injustice  done  a  child  because  "  some- 
body forgot "  that  he  was  in  the  institution,  or  that  he 
was  on  probation.  One  homeless  child,  ordered  placed 
out  in  a  family,  but  temporarily  sent  to  an  institution, 
was  neglected  for  two  years  in  the  institution  because 
there  was  no  "  active  index  "  to  show  which  of  the  court's 

20 1 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

charges  were  there,  and  the  child's  "  record  "  had  long 
since  been  filed  away. 

There  is  other  information  which  may  well  be  kept  by 
special  indexes.  For  instance,  a  list  of  physicians  who 
assist  in  treating  the  cases  of  children  before  the  court; 
indexes  of  volunteer  officers,  interpreters,  etc.  The  card 
index  is  superior  even  to  the  loose-leaf  book,  because  it 
is  always  in  place,  whereas  a  book  is  frequently  mis- 
placed. 

FORMS  FOR  USE  IN  PREPARING  AND  RECORDING  CASES 

In  practically  all  courts  two  non-legal  forms  are  neces- 
sary in  presenting  a  case  to  the  court  by  a  probation 
officer  —  first,  the  written  statement  giving  the  story  of 
the  offense  or  the  condition  which  brings  a  child  to  court ; 
and,  second,  the  history  or  investigation,  which  covers  the 
social  facts  of  a  child's  life.  To  these  may  be  added  in 
special  cases  a  special  form  reporting  the  result  of  a 
medical  examination. 

The  complaint  which  brings  the  child  to  court  may  be 
either  a  memorandum  prepared  by  the  probation  officer; 
the  regulation  complaint  furnished  by  the  truant  offi- 
cer, or  the  form  on  which  the  police  make  their  reports. 
In  any  event,  these  various  forms  should  be  uniform 
in  size  and  cover  the  same  general  information  in  every 
case. 

The  history  or  investigation  blank  should  contain  all 
the  essential  facts  about  a  child's  life,  as  set  forth  on 
pages  35-36,  under  "  investigation."  This  form  can 
either  be  written  out  in  ink  or  on  the  typewriter.  The 
usefulness  of  a  typewriter  in  presenting  material  to  the 

202 


Forms 

court  is  evident,  and  in  cases  in  which  it  is  used,  the  form 
for  the  recording  of  these  data  should  be  printed  also  on 
pencil  paper  so  that  from  the  original  and  corrected  pencil 
copy,  the  final  typewritten  copy  for  the  permanent  record 
may  be  made. 

FORMS   USED   IN    SUPERVISION 

The  forms  in  common  use  in  the  supervision  of  chil- 
dren are  —  first,  the  card  given  to  the  child  at  the  time 
he  is  placed  on  probation,  or  in  cases  of  neglect  given  to  a 
family  placed  under  supervision ;  second,  the  instructions 
given  to  children  regarding  the  rules  of  probation ;  third, 
blanks  for  reports  from  school  or  home. 

Each  probation  officer  must  have  a  record  of  the  chil- 
dren on  probation  to  him  or  under  his  supervision.  Fre- 
quently he  lists  the  names  of  the  children  in  a  small  book 
which  he  carries  and  in  which  he  records  memoranda. 
Large  loose-leaf  books  are  often  used,  containing  the  list 
of  children,  about  whom  memoranda  are  made  after  in- 
vestigations and  visits.  A  better  system  than  either, 
however,  is  the  card  index,  filed  in  a  small  box  or  tray. 
A  card  is  made  out  for  each  child  in  the  probation  officer's 
care,  containing  the  essential  facts.  Spaces  are  left  for 
the  insertion  of  the  record  of  each  visit  or  report.  These 
cards  are  then  filed  in  the  box,  not  alphabetically  by  the 
names  of  children,  but  under  the  day  of  the  month  on 
which  the  officer  expects  to  see  the  child  again.  In  this 
way  the  index  combines  an  accurate  record  of  each  child's 
case,  with  a  calendar  of  the  work  of  the  probation  officer. 
The  card  forms  a  ready  reference  of  the  progress  of  each 
child  and  can  be  taken  from  the  box  at  a  moment's  notice. 

203 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

It  is  a  time-saving  device  and  greatly  simplifies  the  proba- 
tion officer's  work. 

SPECIAL   FORMS 

The  special  forms  in  use  in  a  probation  office  are  usu- 
ally —  first,  the  complaint  in  the  case  of  a  violation  of  a 
parole;  the  recommendation  for  discharge  from  proba- 
tion ;  the  card  signed  by  the  judge  in  discharging  a  child 
from  probation  and  presented  to  the  child;  and  the  ap- 
plication for  parole  or  release  from  an  institution,  or  for 
a  change  of  custody  in  the  case  of  neglected  children. 
These  forms  are  all  self-explanatory. 

FORMS   USED   BY    PROBATION    OFFICERS 

Information  prepared  for  the  hearing  of  a  case  in 
court : 

1.  The  direct  complaint  to  the  probation  officer. 

2.  Unofficial  complaint  to  the  probation  officer. 

3.  The  police  complaint. 

4.  The  truant  officer's  complaint. 

5.  Card  used  for  securing  school  record. 

6.  The  record  blank  for  the  social  investigation. 

7.  The  medical  examination. 

8.  Docket  for  use  by  chief  probation  officer  in  court. 

9.  Probation  officers'  investigation  on  an  application 
for  the  release  of  a  child  from  an  institution. 


These  forms  appear  in  above  order  on  the  pages  following  (205- 
219  inclusive). 


204 


Forms 


THE  DIRECT  COMPLAINT  TO  THE  PROBATION  OFFICER 

This  blank  is  used  for  registering  all  complaints  made 
direct  to  probation  officers.  It  should  be  made  out  in  dupli- 
cate —  one  for  use  of  the  investigating  officer,  and  the  other 
for  filing.  When  such  complaints  are  followed  by  a  formal 
hearing  in  court,  the  statements  are,  of  course, ^set  forth  at 
length  in  the  investigator's  report  to  the  court  of  the  con- 
dition complained  of. 

Juvenile  Court 
COMPLAINT  BLANK 

Date 191 

Person  or 

Condition  >     

Complained  of  J 

Address     

Complainant 

Address     

Complaint    

Referred  to  

By   

(Original) 

Juvenile  Court 
COMPLAINT  BLANK 

Date 191 

Person  or 
Condition 
Complained  of 

Address   

Complainant  

Address    

Complaint   

I  have  investigated  the  above  case  and  recommend 


Signed    

(Duplicate  for  investigator.) 

205 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

THE   UNOFFICIAL  COMPLAINT  TO   THE   PROBATION   OFFICER 

Recommended  for  use  in  those  courts  which  permit  the 
chief  probation  officer  to  hear  complainants  and  defendants 
before  deciding  on  further  action,  such  as  the  filing  of  a 
formal  complaint  in  court. 

This  card  is  used  as  the  office-record  of  unofficial  com- 
plaints; filed  alphabetically. 


UNOFFICIAL  COMPLAINT 

Date 

Name  Address   

Age Nationality Creed Race 

School   Employer 

Father    

Mother    

Complaint   


Hearing :  Date Action  taken : 


Complainant 
Address  . 


2O6 


Forms 


NOTICE  MAILED  TO  THE  PARENT  TO  APPEAR 

JUVENILE  COURT. 

Court  House.  ,  191.... 

To  . 


You  are  hereby  requested  to  appear  in  the  office  of  the 

5  son 
Juvenile  Court  and  bring  with  you  your   ^  daughter , 

on  the  day  of  ,  191....,  at  the  hour 

of  ,  in  regard  to  a  complaint  that  has  been  made 

j  him 
about    I  her,  relating  to  

This  is  not  a  hearing  before  the  judge,  but  a  private  inquiry 
by  the  probation  officer  to  give  you  and  your  child  an  op- 
portunity to  tell  your  story.  Failure  to  comply  with  this 
request  will  cause  a  summons  to  be  issued  for  a  formal  hear- 
ing in  court. 

Yours  truly, 


Chief  Probation  Officer. 


207 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


THE   POLICE   COMPLAINT 

This  form  is  the  copy  of  a  police  letter  in  use  in  a  large 
city.  Such  a  letter  is  sent  to  the  probation  officer  at  once 
in  the  case  of  every  child  taken  into  custody  and  held.  It  is 
an  example  of  the  kind  of  complete  information  the  police 
should  furnish  in  every  case. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  POLICE 
City  of  .............. 

Fifth  District 
Col.  William  Young,  July  2ist,  1912. 

Chief  of  Police, 
Sir:  — 

About  2  o'clock  this  P.  M.,  Officer  James  Hughes  of  this  district, 
took  into  custody  Robert  Dohrendorf,  age  13  years,  U.  S.,  school  boy, 
residing  with  his  mother  Ida  Dohrendorf,  (father  dead),  at  1522  N. 
i8th  street;  Sidney  Roy,  aged  12  years,  U.  S.,  school  boy,  residing 
with  his  aunt  Mrs.  Ella  Dankhof,  (parents  dead),  at  1636  N.  i8th 
street,  and  John  Renkouske,  age  13  years,  U.  S.,  school  boy,  residing 
with  his  parents  Frank  and  Anna  Renkouske  at  No.  1421  N.  iQth 
street,  on  complaint  of  August  Franz,  who  conducts  a  confectionery 
at  No.  1808  Madison  sts.,  and  who  states  that  at  about  2  P.  M.,  on  the 
2Oth  inst,  the  above  named  boys  raised  and  climbed  through  a  rear 
alley  window  into  his  store  and  stole  from  a  cash  drawer  under  a 
counter,  a  cloth  sack  containing  $1.77  in  pennies,  which  the  boys 
admit  taking.  Dohrendorf  and  Roy  were  taken  to  the  House  of 
Detention  pending  action  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  and  Renkouske  was 
turned  over  to  the  Fourth  District  where  he  is  wanted  for  the 
theft  of  about  six  dollars  worth  of  newspapers  this  A.  M. 

Respectfully, 

JAMES  JOHNSON, 
Pat'n.  James  Hughes  Captain  Commanding  District 


208 


Forms 

THE  TRUANT   OFFICERS*   STATEMENT 

School  attendance  officers  bringing  cases  to  the  juvenile 
court  should  furnish  all  the  information  they  heave  to  aid 
the  probation  officers  in  making  their  investigations.  This 
blank  provides  for  all  essential  information. 

REPORT  TO  THE  PROBATION  OFFICER 

Date 

To  the  Chief  Probation  Officer  of  the  Juvenile  Court: 

I  have  this  day  filed  a  petition  in  the  case  of 

Age Address   ,  a  child  under  the  age 

j  neglect 
of  17  years,  charging    ^  delinquency  in  that 


Name  of  father Address. 

Occupation  Religion . 

Name  of  mother  Address . 

Occupation  Religion . 

Other  relatives  and  addresses   . 


School  record   ". 

Attendance days  out  of at School 

Conduct  Scholarship  

Habits    

Remarks    

Witnesses    . 


Very  respectfully  yours, 

Assistant  Attendance  Officer. 
Approved ,  19 

Chief  Attendance  Officer. 


209 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


CARD    USED    FOR    SECURING    THE    SCHOOL    RECORD 

Reply  post-card  sent  to  principals  of  schools  for  the  rec- 
ord of  a  school-child  who  is  to  appear  before  the  court. 

JUVENILE  COURT 

City 

Principal School 

Will  you  kindly  furnish  us  by  return  mail  on  the  af- 
tached  card  whatever  information  you  have  of  the  school 

record  of  

ivhile  in  your  school? 

Very  truly  yours, 


Record  of  in  the 

School,  grades 

(dates)     

Conduct  

Attendance   

Scholarship  

Remarks:  .  


(Signed)   

Principal. 

Date  .  


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THE    MEDICAL   EXAMINATION 

This  blank  covers  both  the  physical  and  mental  examina- 
tion. It  provides  for  an  all-around  medical  statement  of 
the  exceptional  child.  Reports  covering  one  factor  only 
such  as  a  skin  disease,  venereal  disease,  can  be  best  made 
on  the  regular  investigation  blank,  where  a  brief  statement 
of  physical  and  mental  condition  is  provided  for. 

MEDICAL  EXAMINATION 

Name  of  child Nationality  

Address  Date  of  Birth 

I.  FAMILY    (include   all   members   of  immediate   group   whether 
alive  or  dead). 


Name 

Relation  to  child 

Remarks    {Alcoholism,    in- 
sanity, syphilis,  cancer,  tu- 
berculosis, or  other). 

II.  HOME  CONDITIONS. 

Type  of  dwelling Floor Porch  or  yard. 

No.  rooms  No.  dark  No.  persons  . . . 

Sleeping   arrangements    

Sanitary  condition Lived  here  how  long 


216 


Forms 

III.  PHYSICAL   CONDITIONS   AND  HISTORY    (sources   of  informa- 
tion). 

Height Weight Walking  age Talking  age 

Growth  and  nourishment  

Defects  or  past  diseases  of  eye  ear  nose   

Throat  Past  diseases  Injuries  

Heart   Lungs   General  system  

Habits:     Sleep   Food   

IV.  STATEMENT  OF  FACTORS  in  family,  environment,  and  habits  of 
child  unfavorable  to  physical  and  mental  development. 


V.  PRESENT  MENTAL  CONDITION. 

Physical  evidence   (stigmata)    

Diagnosis    

Treatment    recommended    

Prognosis    

Sources  of  information  

Examination  made,   (Date) By  M.  D. 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


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Forms 

Probation  officers'  investigation  on  an  application  for  the 
release  of  a  child  from  an  institution. 

Juvenile  Court  Form. 
Date 

5  release 

APPLICATION  FOR  the    I  parole  of  

from  the  on  behalf  of 

Address  (Relation.) 

I.  Recommendations  of  the  Institution: 

i.  I  have  come  in  contact  with  this  child  on  an  average  of 

[day 
hours  a   <  month  for  a  period  of  

[week 

Under  my  observation  


Name   .  . .  Position 


2.  I  have  come  in  contact  with  this  child  on  an  average  of. 
[day 

hours  a   -j  month  for  a  period  of  

[  week 

Under  my  observation    


Name   Position 

3.  General  record  in  the  institution :  


II.    Recommendations  of  Probation  Office: 
I.  Investigation :    


.  I  would recommend 


Assistant  Probation  Officer. 
2.  I  have  examined  the  facts  in  this  case,  and  recommend 


Chief  Probation  Officer. 
219 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

INSTRUCTIONS   GIVEN    TO    CHILDREN    BY   THE    COURT 

1.  Card  given  to  a  child  placed  on  probation. 

2.  Card  given  to  a  child  paroled  from  an  institution. 

3.  Card  given  to  a  neglected  child  placed  under  super- 
vision. 

4.  Card  given  to  a  child  upon  discharge  from  proba- 
tion or  parole.         (See  following  pages.) 

CARD    GIVEN    TO   A    CHILD    PLACED   ON    PROBATION 

This  card  should  be  given  to  children  placed  on  proba- 
tion, together  with  the  cards  to  be  filled  out  by  parent  and 
teacher  as  reports  to  the  probation  officer.  This  card  bears 
the  probation  officer's  name  on  the  back  and  the  date  of  the 
next  report  is  "written  down  on  the  back  of  each  card. 

Juvenile  Court  Form 
To 

You  are  put  on  probation  by  the  court  to  help  you  do  better.  If 
you  do  well  and  continue  doing  so,  you  will  be  taken  off  probation; 
if  not,  you  may  be  sent  away  to  school  for  special  training. 

1.  Report  to  the  probation  officer  on  the  days  shown  on  the  back 
of  this  card. 

2.  Every  time  you  come,  bring  your  reports  filled  out.    These  re- 
ports will  be  stamped  to   show  they  were   received.    You   should 
return  them  to  the  persons  who  signed  them. 

3.  If  you  cannot  report   for  any  good  reason,  please  telephone 
or  write  AT  ONCE  to  the  Probation  Officer,  Court  House.    The 
office  is  open  every  day  except  Sunday,  from  9  a,  m.  to  5  p.  m.,  and 
also  on  Thursday  evenings  from  7 130  to  9 :3O. 

4.  If  you  fail  to  report  or  let  your  probation  officer  hear  from 
you,  he  is  instructed  to  send  for  you. 

5.  Be  sure  to   let  your  probation  officer  know  at  once  of  any 
change  in  your  address,  school  or  employment. 

Always  bring  this  card  with  you. 

Judge. 
Date  

2  2O 


Forms 


CARD  GIVEN  TO  A  CHILD  PAROLED  FROM   AN   INSTITUTION 

This  card  (of  a  different  color  than  that  used  for  proba- 
tion) is  to  be  given  to  a  child  paroled  from  an  institution 
under  the  supervision  of  a  probation  officer  of  the  court. 

Juvenile  Court  Form 
To 

You  are  paroled  by  the  Court  under  the  supervision  of  a  pro- 
bation officer.  If  you  do  well,  and  continue  doing  so,  you  will  be 
released  from  supervision;  if  not,  you  may  be  sent  away  to  school 
again. 

Please  follow  these  instructions  carefully: 

1.  Report  to  the  probation  officer  on  the  days  shown  on  the  back 
of  this  card. 

2.  Every   time   you   come,   bring  your   report   filled   out.    These 
reports  will  be  stamped  to  show  they  were  received.    You  should 
return  them  to  the  persons  who  signed  them. 

3.  If  you  cannot  report  for  any  good  reason,  please  telephone  or 
write   AT    ONCE   to   the    Probation    Officer,    Court   House.    The 
office  is  open  every  day  except  Sunday,  from  9  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m., 
and  also  on  Thursday  evenings  from  7:30  to  9:30. 

4.  If  you  fail  to  report  or  let  your  probation  officer  hear  from 
you,  he  is  instructed  to  send  for  you. 

5.  Be   sure  to   let  your  probation  officer  know  at   once  of   any 
change  in  your  address,  school  or  employment. 

Date   . 


Judge. 


221 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


CARD  GIVEN   TO  A   NEGLECTED   CHILD  PLACED  UNDER   SUPER- 
VISION 

The  chief  purpose  in  giving  such  a  card  to  a  child  under 
supervision  is  to  make  plain  to  parents  the  order  of  the 
court,  and  to  carry  the  name  of  the  officer  designated  to 
help  the  child. 

Form  i 
JUVENILE  COURT  — City  of  ( ) 

To  

You  are  placed  under  the  supervision  of  this  Court  in 
order  to  help  you  and  your  family.  The  probation  officer 
named  on  the  back  of  this  card  will  come  to  visit  you 
in  your  home  from  time  to  time. 

Date  (Signed) 

Judge. 


CARD  GIVEN   TO  A  CHILD  UPON  DISCHARGE  FROM   PROBATION 
OR  PAROLE 

Form  2 
JUVENILE  COURT  — City  of  ( ) 

To 

You  are  hereby  released  from  the  supervision  of  this 
Court,  having  earned  your  release  by  continued  good  con- 
duct. 

Date  (Signed) 

Judge. 


222 


Forms 


FORMS  USED  BY  PROBATION  OFFICERS  IN  THE  SUPERVISION 
OF  CHILDREN 

1.  The  record  card,  kept  for  each  child. 

2.  The  school  report. 

3.  The  parent's  report. 

4.  Notices  to  report. 

THE   RECORD   CARD   KEPT   FOR   EACH    CHILD 

This  card  is  recommended  for  use  in  supervising  every 
child.  The  card  is  made  out  and  placed  in  a  desk  filing- 
box.  These  cards  are  arranged  in  an  index  showing  the 
days  of  the  month,  so  that  the  cards  of  all  children  to  be 
seen  on  a  given  day  are  together.  All  the  facts  necessary 
to  record  in  supervising  a  child  can  be  kept  on  this  blank. 
Special  information  can  be  recorded  on  the  "  history  blank  " 
in  the  files  of  the  case.  The  "number"  column  shows  at  a 
glance  the  frequency  of  visits  or  reports,  using  the  letter 
" v"  -for  a  visit  to  the  home.  The  "grade"  marking  is 
recommended  as  an  index  of  progress,  and  to  estimate  the 
probation  officers'  opinion  of  conditions  at  each  visit  or  re- 
port. The  "record"  contains  any  memoranda,  especially 
the  gist  of  the  school  and  parent's  reports.  (See  pages 
224-225.) 


223 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


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225 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

SCHOOL  REPORT 

Form 

Name   School    

Report  for  the  period  from to  

Attendance   

Conduct    

Scholarship    

Remarks 

Date (Principal  or  Teacher)   

Any  additional  information  may  be  written  on  back  of 
this  card. 


THE    PARENT  S    REPORT 

Form 

The  probation  officer  is  trying  to  help  your  boy  to  do 
better,  and  a  full  statement  from  you  will  assist  him  very 
much.  Parents  are  kindly  requested  to  answer  the  follow- 
ing carefully: 

Conduct  at  home  is  

Spends  evenings  where?   Bed-time? 

Spent  last  Sunday  where  ?  

Spends  spare  time  where  ?    

Absent  from  school  or  work?  Why? 

Remarks :    . 


Date   Parent's   signature . 

226 


Forms 


NOTICES  TO  REPORT 

Form 
PROBATION  OFFICE 

City  Hall, 

You  did  not  report  as  directed  on  

Please  come  and  see  me  on at 

o'clock  without  fail.  If  you  are  unable  to  come,  let  me 
know  at  once  by  mail  or  telephone.  (Insert  'phone  num- 
ber here.) 

Yours  very  truly, 


Form 
PROBATION  OFFICE 

City  Hall,  

Kindly  come  to  see  me  at  this  office  on  

between  o'clock.    If  you  have  any 

reason  for  not  coming,  let  me  know  at  once  by  mail  or 
'phone  (Insert  'phone  numbers  here). 
Very  truly  yours, 


227 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


REPORTS  OF  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

1.  Monthly  report  of  each  officer  on  all  children  under 
his  supervision. 

2.  Monthly  report  of  chief  probation  officer,  showing 
disposition  of  all  cases  before  the  court;  the  chil- 
dren in  charge  of  the  probation  officers,  and  children 
in  institutions  subject  to  court  order. 

3.  Monthly  report  in  less  detail  than  No.  2  for  trans- 
mission to  a  state  supervisory  body. 

4.  Weekly  report  of  probation  officer  showing  work 
and  hours  of  service. 

5.  Volunteer  officer's  report  on  a  child,  covering  a 
period  of  supervision. 

6.  Volunteer  officer's  report,  to  be  used  for  each  visit 
or  interview  with  child. 


228 


Forms 


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2.  ADDITIONS: 

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a.  From  court  
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On  parole  from  institutior 
b.  By  transfer  from  other  bffic 
(2)  Neglected  
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4.  TOTAL  UNDER  SUPERVISION  LAST  DAY  OF  M 

(  l)  Delinquent  children  
On  probation  
On  parole  from  institutions  
(2)  Neglected  children  under  supervision 
(3)  Children  whose  whereabout  are  unk 

230 


Forms 


MONTHLY  REPORT  OF  CHIEF  PROBATION  OFFICER 

Showing  disposition  of  all  cases  before  the  court;  the  children  in  charge  of  the  probation  of- 
ficers, and  children  in  institutions  subject  to  court  order. 

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Total  number  of  children  before  the  court  
I.  Delinquent  children  ;  
a.  Placed  on  probation  
b.  Committed  to  institutions  
Industrial  School  
Training  School  and  State  Industrial  Home  
Private  institutions  
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d.  Discharged  or  dismissed  

f  .  All  other  dispositions  
a.  Neglected  Children  
a.  Placed  under  supervision  
b.  Committed  to  institutions  or  societies  
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c.  Placed  out  in  families  

231 


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235 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Two  forms  of  postal-card  report  are  given  for  the  use 
of  volunteer  officers.  The  first  form  is  for  use  where  re- 
ports are  required  from  volunteers  at  regular  intervals. 
The  second  is  for  use  where  volunteers  assist  the  regular 
officers  and  report  the  facts  whenever  they  interview  the 
child. 

VOLUNTEER  OFFICER'S  REPORT 

To  the  Probation  Officer: 

Report  on for  the  period 

to  

Home School 

Employment   

Remarks :    


Reports  :   Visits  to  home 

(Signed)   

Date :   

(Volunteer  officer's  report  on  a  child,  covering  a  period  of 
supervision.) 


VOLUNTEER  OFFICER'S  REPORT 


Date  of  visit 

Length  of  visit  

Place  of  visit  

Conduct  has  been 

School  or  employment  report 

If  absent  from  either,  why  ?  

Where  does  he  spend  Sundays  and  evenings?. 
Remarks : 


(Signed)   

Date  

(Any  additional  information  may  be  written  on  reverse  side 
of  this  card.) 

(Volunteer  officer's  report,  to  be  used  for  each  visit  or  in- 
terview with  child.) 


236 


Forms 


CARD  INDEX   FORMS 

1.  Alphabetical  index  of  all  children  before  the  court. 

2.  Index  to  wards  of  the  court,  either  under  super- 
vision of  probation  officers,  or  in  institutions  sub- 
ject to  court  order. 

ALPHABETICAL  INDEX   OF  ALL  CHILDREN   BEFORE  THE  COURT 

Nothing  is  needed  on  the  alphabetical  index  card,  other 
than  the  child's  name,  (nickname  or  alias)  address  (for  pur- 
poses of  identification)  and  the  Hie  number,  for  reference 
to  complete  information. 

Form 

Name   File  No 

Disposition    


INDEX  TO  WARDS  OF  THE  COURT 

Either  under  supervision  of  probation  officers,  or  in  in- 
stitutions subject  to  court  order.  From  these  cards  are 
made  up  the  monthly  reports  on  children  in  institutions. 
The  index  serves  as  a  check  also  on  the  reports  of  the  pro- 
bation officers. 

Form 
Name File  No 

Address    . 


237 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


FORMS   RECOMMENDED   FOR   USE   AT   THE   DETENTION 
HOUSE 

1.  The  written  promise  signed  by  the  parent  of  a  child 
released  before  hearing  in  court. 

2.  Record  card  kept   for  each  child  brought  to  the 
Detention  House. 

3.  Consent  of  parent  for  local  examination  of  a  girl. 

4.  Monthly  report  on  number  of  children  in  detention 
each  day;  number  of  meals  served  and  lodgings 
furnished. 

5.  Monthly  report  on  number  of  children  received  and 
released. 

THE  WRITTEN  PROMISE 

Signed  by  the  parent  of  a  child  released  before  hearing 
in  court. 

JUVENILE  DETENTION  HOME  Telephone  3836 

191.... 

I,  (father)    (mother)  of 

now  held  in  the  Juvenile 

Detention  Home  do  promise  and  agree  to  produce  said  child  before 
the  Judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court  on  day  set  for  hearing. 

Signed 

Witness :   . 


238 


Forms 

Record  card  kept  for  each  child  brought  to  the  detention 
house.  Cards  of  children  in  detention  kept  in  a  desk  filing 
box  during  their  stay,  and  then  transferred  to  an  alpha- 
betical card-index  file.  Cards  of  a  child  brought  in  more 
than  once  to  be  clipped  together. 


HOUSE  OF  DETENTION 

Juvenile  Court. 

Name    Age 

Address   

Name  of  father Address 

Name  of  mother  Address 

Wanted  in  Juvenile  Court (A.  M.-P.  M.) 

(Day  of  Week) (Day  of  Month) 

Cause :  (Give  brief  particulars)  

Physical   Condition :    

Temperature Pulse Respiration 

Officer  taking  into  custody 

Received (Day) (Hour) 

Released  to 

(Day) (Hour) 

Remarks :    , 


CONSENT  OF  PARENT  FOR  LOCAL  EXAMINATION  OF  A  GIRL 

JUVENILE  DETENTION  HOME 

191.... 

I,    v   (father)    (mother)   of 

do  hereby  give  my  consent 

to  have  my  daughter  examined  locally 

by  the  City  Physician,  Dr 

Signed  


239 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


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240 


Forms 


241 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


Monthly  report  on  number  of  children  received  and  re- 
leased. 

HOUSE  OF  DETENTION 
REPORT  FOR  THE  MONTH  ENDING  


Total 

Boys 

Girls 

I     TOTAL  ADMISSIONS  

(a)  By    Police    Officers  
(6)  By  Probation  Officers.  .  . 
(c)  By  Attendance  Officers. 
(</)  By  Sheriff   •  

(*)  By  All  Others  

2.  As  Neglected  

(a)  By  Police  Officers  , 

(6)  By  Probation  Officers... 
(c)  By  Attendance  Officers. 
(d)  By    Sheriff  

(*)  By  All  Others  

II.  TOTAL  RELEASES   

I.  As  Delinquents   

(a)  To  Relatives  on  Bond.. 
(&)  To  Court  

(c)  To  Institutions  on  Order 
of  Court  

-• 

(d)  To  All  Others  

2.  As  Neglected   

(o)  To  Relatives  on  Bond.. 
(6)  To  Court  

(c)  To  Institutions  on  Order 
of  Court  

(d)  To  All  Others   

242 


Forms 


LEGAL  FORMS  USED  BY  THE  CLERK 

for  securing  the  attendance  of  children,  parents  and  wit- 
nesses in  court,  for  committing  to  an  institution,  and  for 
bringing  a  child  before  the  court.  The  forms  recom- 
mended are  couched  in  the  briefest  terms  and  in  simple 
language. 

1.  Petition  to  bring  a  child  before  the  court. 

2.  Subpoena. 

3.  Summons. 

4.  Warrant  of  arrest. 

5.  Writ  of  attachment. 

6.  Commitment  to  an  institution. 

7.  Release  from  an  institution. 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Only  one  legal  form  need  be  used  in  bringing  any  child 
before  the  court  for  any  cause  whatever.  This  form  covers 
all  varieties  of  cases,  and  meets  all  legal  requirements. 

PETITION  IN  THE  JUVENILE  COURT  OF 

To  the  Honorable  Judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court  of : 

iCity 

You  petitioner,  a  resident  of  said  [  County,  respectfully  repre- 
sents that ,  a  child  under  the  age  of 

years  in  the  custody  and  control  of  ,  who  re- 
sides at   ,  is  a  (  delinquent  child  within  the 

(  neglected 
meaning  of  the  law,  in  that 


Your  petitioner  therefore  prays  the  Court  to  inquire  into  the 
matters  herein  set  forth  and  to  make  such  orders  in  the  premises  as 
to  the  Court  may  seem  proper  and  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
child. 


Petitioner. 
State  of  .  


/ss. 
County  of 

I,  the  undersigned  petitioner,  being  duly  sworn,  upon  oath  state 
that  the  facts  stated  in  the  above  petition  are  true  to  the  best  of  my 
information  and  belief. 


Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this day  of 

19 


Clerk. 
By 

Deputy. 

244 


Forms 

Subpoena,  used  to  secure  the  attendance  of  witnesses. 

JUVENILE  COURT  — SUBPOENA 

Court  House, City. 

State  of  

To 

(Address)  

You  are  hereby  summoned  to  appear  before  the  judge  of  the  Juve- 
nile Court,  at  the  above  place,  on  the day  of 

19...,  at  o'clock  ...M.,  to  testify  in  a  certain  proceeding 

in  relation  to 

WITNESS,  ,  Clerk  of 

the    Juvenile    Court    of    the    City    of 

,  this   day  of 

,  19-.- - 


Clerk. 

By 

Deputy. 

Executed  the  within  subpoena,  in  the  City  of  

on  this,  the  day  of  ,  19 

(Signed)   


Summons,  used  to  secure  the  attendance  of  parent  and  child. 

JUVENILE  COURT— SUMMONS 

State  of : 

To  

You  ARE  HEREBY  COMMANDED  to  appear  before  our  Juvenile  Court 

(address)   ,  at  the  City  of  

on  the day  of ,  1911,  at  9:00  o'clock  A.  M.,  and 

bring  with  you   a  child  charged  with  being  a 

j  delinquent  child,  then  and  there  to  abide  such  order  touching  the 
{  neglected 
welfare  of  said  child  as  to  the  Court  may  seem  best. 

WITNESS,   Clerk  of 

the  Juvenile  Court,   this   day 

of  ,  19 


Clerk. 

By 

Deputy. 

245 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Warrant,  used  to  secure  the  attendance  of  child,  after  the 
failure  of  a  summons. 

JUVENILE  COURT  — WARRANT 

State  of  

In  the  matter  of 


vs. 


Commonwealth  of   

To  any  officer  authorized  by  law  to  execute  this  Warrant : 

GREETING  : 

WHEREAS,   it  has   been   represented   to  the  Honorable  Judge  of 

this   Court  by   ,   in  a  petition  duly  verified, 

that  is  believed  to  be  a  j  delinquent  child, 

(  neglected 

and  whereas  the  said   Court  has   found  that  service  of  summons 
will    be    ineffectual,    and    has    ordered    a    warrant    issued    against 

,  and  whereas  said  Court  has  appointed 

the  hearing  of  said  petition  for  the  day  of   ; 

A.  D.  19 ,  at  M.: 

You  are  therefore  hereby  commanded  to  take  said  child  and  to 

have   it  on  the    day  of    A.  D.    19 ,   at 

M.,  before  said  Court. 

And  have  you  then  and  there  this  Writ,  and  make  due  service  as 
the  law  directs. 

WITNESS,  ,  Clerk  of  said  Court,  this 

day  of  ,  A.  D.,  19 


Clerk. 
Deputy. 


246 


Forms 

Writ  of  attachment,  used  to  secure  the  attendance  of  wit- 
nesses after  failure  of  a  subpoena. 

JUVENILE  COURT --WRIT  OF  ATTACHMENT 

The  State  of  : 

To  any  officer  authorized  by  law  to  execute  this  Attachment: 

WE  COMMAND  You  to  attach  by  his  body, 

and  him  safely  keep,  so  that  you  have  his  body  before  the  Judge 

of  our  Juvenile  Court  of County  ,  at  the 

County   Court  House   in    ,  on  the    day  of 

A.  D.,    19 at    o'clock    . . .  M.,   then   and 

there  to  answer  for  a  contempt  in  not  appearing  in  obedience  to  a 
summons  issued  in  the  cause  now  pending  in  our  said  Court  in 

the  matter  of  

WITNESS,  Clerk  of  the 

Juvenile   Court,   this    day 

of  ,  19 


Clerk. 

By 

Deputy. 


RETURN 

Executed  the  within  writ,  in   County, 

on  the day  of ,  19 ,  by  . . 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

Commitment  delivered,  with  the  child  committed,  to  the 
superintendent  of  the  institution. 

JUVENILE  COURT  —  COMMITMENT 

The  State  of 

To  ,  Greeting : 

WHEREAS,  by  the  order  of  the  Juvenile  Court  of  

County,  at ,  made  on  the day  of 

19  . . . .,  adjudged to  be  a    j  delinquent  child,  was  com- 

(  neglected 

mitted  to  your  custody  and  control,  subject  to  the  orders  of  this 
Court : 

This  is  to  authorize  you  to  take  charge  of  and  properly  care  for 
said  child  until  the  further  order  of  the  Court. 

WITNESS,  ,  Clerk  of  the 

Juvenile  Court,  City  of  

this day  of 19. .. 


Clerk. 

By 

Deputy. 
(Duplicate  received   and   returned  as   follows:) 

Received  into  my  custody  the day  of 19. . ., 

the  above  named  


Superintendent. 

Release,  directed  to  the  superintendents  of  institutions 
and  other  persons  having  the  custody  of  children  wanted 
in  court. 

Juvenile  Court,  City  of 

To 

Supt.,  Industrial  School : 

This  is  to  direct  you  to  cause  to  be  brought  before  the  Juvenile 

Court  on  19 at   o'clock,   

heretofore  committed  to  your  custody. 

WITNESS,  ,  Clerk  of  the 

Juvenile  Court,  City  of   , 

this day  of  ,  19 


Clerk. 
By 

Deputy. 

248 


Forms 


ORDERS  OF  COURT  ENTERED  IN  THE  CLERK  S  DOCKET 

BOOK 

1.  Order  making  a  child  a  ward  of  the  court  and 
placing  him  or  her  under  control  of  the  probation 
officer. 

2.  Order  making  a  child  a  ward  of  the  court  and  com- 
mitting him  or  her  to  the  custody  of  an  institution 
or  individual. 

3.  Order  changing  the  custody  of  a  ward  of  the  court. 

4.  Order  discharging  a  child. 

5.  Orders  discharging  a  child  from  supervision,  proba- 
tion or  parole. 

6.  Blanket  order  relating  to  a  complaint. 

The  memoranda  made  by  the  judge  on  each  petition, 
or  the  order  given  the  clerk,  are  transcribed  in  legal 
form  in  a  "  docket  book,"  the  forms  being  usually  pre- 
pared on  rubber  stamps  and  filled  in.  Special  orders, 
such  as  those  requiring  payment  of  restitution,  mainte- 
nance of  children  and  the  like,  vary  so  greatly  that  they  are 
better  written  out  for  each  case,  if  entered  at  all.  Often 
they  are  made  only  orally  as  a  condition  of  probation, 
without  formal  record. 


249 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 

ORDER  MAKING  A  CHILD  A  WARD  OF  THE  COURT  AND  PLAC- 
ING HIM  OR  HER  UNDER  CONTROL  OF  THE  PROBATION  OF- 
FICER. 

IN  THE  MATTER  OF  

Now,  on  this day  of comes , 

who  brings  into  Court  ,  age  of years,  who  is 

5  neglected 
charged  with  being  a    (  delinquent  child,  said  child  appearing  by  and 

[  father 
with  his   -I  mother  who  has  legal  custody  and  control  of  said  child, 

[  guardian 
and  the  court  after  hearing  the  evidence  and  being  fully  advised  in 

(  neglected 

the  premises  finds  that  said  child  is  a    (  delinquent  child  within  the 
meaning  of  the  law. 

It  is  therefore  ordered  by  the  Court  that  the  said  child  be  and  re- 
main a  ward  of  the  Court,  that  he  be  permitted  to  go  hence  subject 
to  the  supervision  of  the  Probation  Officer,  to  be  returned  to  Court 
for  further  proceedings  herein  whenever  by  the  Court  such  action 
is  deemed  for  the  child's  best  interests. 


ORDER  MAKING  A  CHILD  A  WARD  OF  THE  COURT  AND  COM- 
MITTING HIM  OR  HER  TO  THE  CUSTODY  OF  AN  INSTITUTION 
OR  INDIVIDUAL. 

IN  THE  MATTER  OF  

Now,  on  this day  of comes ., 

who  brings  into  Court  ,  age  of years,  who  is 

j  neglected 
charged  with  being  a    [  delinquent  child,  said  child  appearing  by  and 

f  father  • 
with  his   \  mother  who  has  legal  custody  and  control  of  said  child, 

[  guardian 
and  the  court  after  hearing  the  evidence  and  being  fully  advised  in 

$  neglected 

the  premises  finds  that  said  child  is  a    t  delinquent  child  within  the 
meaning  of  the  law. 

It  is,  therefore,  ordered  by  the  court  that  said  child  be  and  remain 
j  he 

a  ward  of  the  court,  and  that   {  she  is  hereby  committed  to 

to  remain  there  until  further  order  of  the  court. 

250 


Forms 


ORDER   CHANGING  THE   CUSTODY  OF  A   WARD   OF  THE   COURT 

This  form  can  be  used  in  a  great  variety  of  circumstances, 
in  fact  for  every  order  made  from  the  time  a  child  becomes 
a  ward  of  the  court  until  dismissal.  It  covers  parole  from 
an  institution  to  parents,  violation  of  probation  and  com- 
mitment to  an  institution,  change  from  one  institution  to 
another,  etc.,  etc. 

IN  THE  MATTER  OF  

Now,  on  this day  of comes , 

who  brings  into  Court   ,  who  is  a  ward  of  the  Court, 

I  neglected  (  his  parent 

heretofore  adjudged    (  delinquent  and 1  her  guardian, 

and  it  appearing  to  the  court  from  the  evidence  this  day  adduced 

(  his 

touching  the  welfare  of  said  child  that  it  would  be  to  {  her  best  in- 
terests to  be  removed  from  the  care  and  custody  of   

and  placed  in  the  care  and  custody  of ,  it  is  hereby  or- 
dered by  the  court  that  said  child  be  committed  to  the  care  and 

custody  of   there  to  remain  until  further  order  of 

court. 

BLANKET  ORDER  RELATING  TO  A  COMPLAINT 
(Order  discharging  child.) 

IN  THE  MATTER  OF 

It  is  ordered  by  the  Court  that  said  child  be  discharged. 

(Orders  discharging  a  child  from  supervision,  probation  or  parole.) 

IN  THE  MATTER  OF 

It  is  ordered  by  the  Court  that  said   be  discharged 

j  parole 
from    £  probation. 

IN  THE  MATTER  OF 

It  is  ordered  by  the  Court  that  said  be  discharged 

from  the  further  supervision  and  control  of  this  court. 


IN  THE  MATTER  OF  

It  is  ordered  by  the  Court  this  cause  shall  be 

251 


Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation 


ABBREVIATIONS    IN    COMMON    USE    IN    JUVENILE    COURTS 

It  is  essential  to  save  time  and  space  in  keeping  records. 
The  forms  given  are  all  predicated  on  the  extensive  use 
of  abbreviations.  In  order  to  secure  some  uniformity, 
these  abbreviations  are  recommended  for  words  in  com- 
mon use  in  Juvenile  Courts : 


Relationships 

b boy 

bro brother 

ch child 

chn children 

f father 

f.  or  f  am family 

g.    girl 

h home 

m.    mother 

neigh neighbor 

sis sister 

Housing 

b.h boarding  house 

f  .r furnished    room 

res residence 

ten tenement 

Common  Words 

cd post  card 

ex excused 

exc excellent 

f  r from 

gr grade 

hab habitual 

im immediately 

incor incorrigible 

indef indefinite 

inf information 

inv investigation 

mo month 

prin principal 

reg regular  or  regularly 

rel release 

rep report 


s.  or  sch school 

temp temporarily 

tr truant 

w with 

wk week  or  work 

wkg working 

Court  Phrases 

A.  Off Attendance  Officer 

Com Committed 

Cont'd    Continued 

Ct Court 

Del Delinquent 

Dist.P Disturbing  the  peace 

F.I Factory  Inspector 

H.  of  D House  of  Detention 

Neg Neglected 

Off Officer 

Par Parole 

P.D Police  Department 

P.O Probation  Officer 

Prob Probation 

Sup Supervision 

V.C.O.    Violating  City  Ordinance 

V.P.O 

Volunteer  Probation  Officer 

Race  and  Religion 

Am American 

C.  or  Col Colored 

Cath Catholic 

Eng English 

Ger German 

It Italian 

Jew Jewish 

Pol Polish 

Prot Protestant 

W.  .    White 


252 


I.  LAWS  AND  RULES  OF  COURT 

1.  PROPOSED  MODEL  JUVENILE  COURT  LAW 

2.  PROPOSED  LAW   FOR  DEALING  WITH  ADULTS 

WHO  CONTRIBUTE  TO  THE  DELINQUENCY  OR 
NEGLECT  OF  CHILDREN 

3.  RULES  OF  COURT  GOVERNING  THE  PLACE  OF 

DETENTION 

•      4.  RULES  OF  COURT  GOVERNING  THE  PROBATION 
OFFICE 

II.  SELECTED  REFERENCES 


253 


APPENDIX 

THE  drafts  of  laws  and  rules  herewith  submitted  are 
selected  as  embodying  in  the  main  the  best  provisions  thus 
far  incorporated  into  juvenile  court  laws  and  rules.  We 
have  already  pointed  out  that  absolute  uniformity 
throughout  the  states  is  not  possible.  Common  agree- 
ment may  be  secured,  however,  on  certain  fundamental 
principles  and  these  may  be  gathered  from  the  drafts 
printed  herein.  The  legislature  of  Missouri  in  1913 
(Session  Laws,  1913)  passed  a  juvenile  court  law  that  is 
desirable  in  many  particulars.  It  is  based  on  the  law 
applicable  to  the  City  of  Rochester,  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York,  1910.  This  law  is  published  in 
"Juvenile  Court  Laws  of  the  United  States  Summarized" 
edited  by  Hastings  H.  Hart  and  published  by  the  Russell 
Sage  Foundation. 

The  suggestions  for  a  general  law  draw  on  both  the 
Missouri  and  Rochester  law,  and,  in  our  opinion,  are  an 
improvement  on  both.  It  would  be  desirable  as  nearly  as 
possible  to  approximate  this  draft.  We  repeat  what  we 
have  indicated  elsewhere: 

(a)  That  the  jurisdiction  of  the  juvenile  court  should 
be  sufficiently  broad  to  enable  it  to  hear  all  cases  involving 
children,  i.e.,  cases  of  delinquency,  neglect,  truancy,  and 
violations  of  child  labor  laws. 

(b)  The  court  should  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  over 

255 


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adults  who  contribute  to  the  delinquency  or  neglect  of 
children. 

PROPOSED  MODEL  JUVENILE  COURT  LAW 

AN  ACT  conferring  jurisdiction  upon  the  county  court 
to  adjudicate  upon  all  cases  of  children  under  eighteen 
years  of  age  who  are  delinquent,  neglected  or  otherwise 
subject  to  the  discipline  or  in  need  of  the  care  and  pro- 
tection of  the  State ;  and  regulating  the  procedure  in  such 
cases,  including  the  establishment  of  a  detention  home, 
a  probation  system,  the  appointment  of  guardians  for 
such  children,  and  to  punish  any  adult  who  may  encour- 
age, aid,  cause,  abet  or  connive  at  such  state  of  delin- 
quency or  neglect. 

The  people  of  the  State  of ,  represented  in 

Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

SECTION  I.     COUNTY  COURT  —  JURISDICTION  — 
CONSTRUCTION  OF  ACT 

The  county  court  shall  have  original  and  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  all  cases  coming  within  the  terms  and 
provisions  of  this  act.  For  the  purposes  of  this  act,  such 
court  may  be  called  the  juvenile  court.  This  act  shall 
be  construed  liberally  and  as  remedial  in  character;  and 
the  powers  hereby  conferred  are  intended  to  be  general 
to  effect  the  beneficial  purpose  herein  set  forth. 

SECTION  II.     THE  CHILDREN  EMBRACED  IN  ACT 

This  act  shall  apply  to  any  child  less  than  eighteen 
years  of  age. 

(a)  Who  violates  any  penal  law  or  any  municipal 

256 


Appendix 

ordinance,  or  who  commits  any  act  or  offense  for  which 
he  could  be  prosecuted  in  a  method  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  a  criminal  action  or  proceeding,  or 

(b)  Who  engages  in  any  occupation,  calling  or  exhibi- 
tion, or  is  found  in  any  place  for  permitting  which  an 
adult  may  be  punished  by  law,  or  who  so  deports  himself 
or  is  in  such  condition  or  surroundings  or  under  such 
improper  or  insufficient  guardianship  or  control  as  to 
endanger  the  morals,  health,  or  general  welfare  of  such 
child. 

(c)  Who  comes  within  the  provisions  of  any  law  for 
the  education,  care  and  protection  of  children. 

(d)  Whose  custody  is  the  subject  of  controversy  in 
any  suit. 

The  judge  of  any  court  in  which  there  is  pending  any 
suit  in  which  there  is  involved  the  question  of  the  custody 
of  any  child  shall  refer  and  transfer  by  proper  order  said 
question  of  custody  to  the  county  court  to  be  heard  and 
determined  by  it. 

SECTION  III.     PETITION  —  How  FILED 

Any  person  having  knowledge  or  information  that  a 
child  is  within  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  section  may 
file  with  the  county  court  in  which  such  child  is  found 
a  verified  petition  stating  the  facts  that  bring  such  child 
within  said  provisions.  The  petition  may  be  upon  in- 
formation and  belief.  The  title  of  the  proceeding  shall 

be,  "County  Court,  County  of ,  In  the  Matter 

of  (inserting  name)  a  Child  under  Eighteen  Years  of 
Age."  The  petition  shall  set  forth  the  name  and  residence 
of  the  child  and  of  the  parents,  if  known  to  the  petitioner, 

257 


Appendix 

and  the  name  and  residence  of  the  person  having  the 
guardianship,  custody,  control  and  supervision  of  such 
child,  if  the  same  be  known  or  ascertained  by  the  peti- 
tioner, or  the  petition  shall  state  that  they  are  unknown, 
if  that  be  the  fact. 

SECTION  IV.     SUMMONS  TO  ISSUE  —  WHEN 

Upon  riling  the  petition,  the  court  or  a  judge  thereof 
may  forthwith,  or  after  first  causing  an  investigation  to 
be  made  by  a  probation  officer  or  other  person,  cause  a 
summons  to  be  issued  signed  by  one  of  the  judges  or  the 
special  clerk  of  said  court,  requiring  the  child  to  appear 
before  the  court  and  the  parents,  or  the  guardian,  or  the 
person  having  the  custody,  control,  or  supervision  of  the 
child,  or  the  person  with  whom  the  child  may  be,  to  appear 
with  the  child,  at  a  place  and  time  stated  in  the  summons, 
to  show  cause  why  the  child  should  not  be  dealt  with 
according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

SECTION  V.     SHERIFF  MAY  TAKE  CONTROL  OF  CHILD. 

WHEN 

If  it  appears  from  the  petition  that  the  child  is  em- 
braced within  subdivision  (a)  of  Section  2,  or  is  in  such 
condition  that  the  welfare  of  the  child  requires  that  its 
custody  be  immediately  assumed,  the  court  may  indorse 
upon  the  summons  a  direction  that  the  officer  serving  the 
same  shall  at  once  take  said  child  into  his  custody. 

SECTION  VI.     SERVICE  OF  SUMMONS 

Service  of  summons  shall  be  made  personally  by 
delivering  to  and  leaving  with  the  person  summoned 

258 


Appendix 

a  true  copy  thereof.  If  it  shall  be  made  to  ap- 
pear, by  affidavit,  that  reasonable  but  unsuccessful 
effort  has  been  made  to  serve  the  summons  per- 
sonally upon  the  parties  named  herein,  other  than  said 
child,  the  court  or  any  judge  thereof  at  any  stage  of  the 
proceedings  may  make  an  order  for  substituted  service  of 
the  summons  or  of  a  supplemental  summons  in  the  manner 
provided  for  substituted  service  of  civil  process  in  courts 
of  record,  and  if  such  parties  are  without  said  county, 
service  may  be  made  by  mail,  by  publication,  or  personally 
without  the  county  in  such  manner  and  at  such  time  before 
the  hearing  as  in  said  order  directed.  It  shall  be  suffi- 
cient to  confer  jurisdiction  if  service  is  effected  at  any 
time  before  the  time  fixed  in  the  summons  for  the  return 
thereof,  but  the  court,  if  requested,  shall  not  proceed  with 
the  hearing  earlier  than  the  third  day  after  the  date  of 
the  service.  Proof  of  service  shall  be  made  substantially 
as  in  courts  of  record.  Failure  to  serve  summons  upon 
any  person  other  than  said  child  shall  not  impair  the  ju- 
risdiction of  the  court  to  proceed  in  cases  arising  under 
subdivision  (a)  of  Section  2,  provided  that,  for  good 
cause  shown,  the  court  make  an  order  dispensing  with 
such  service. 

SECTION  VII.     DISOBEDIENCE  OF  SUMMONS  — 
CONTEMPT 

The  summons  shall  be  considered  a  mandate  of  the 
court,  and  wilful  failure  to  obey  its  requirements  shall 
subject  any  person  guilty  thereof  to  liability  for  punish- 
ment as  for  a  criminal  contempt. 


259 


Appendix 

SECTION  VIII.     ALLOWANCE  TO  SHERIFF 

The  sheriff  shall  serve  or  cause  to  be  served  all  papers 
which  are  directed  by  the  court  to  be  served  by  him,  and 
a  suitable  allowance  shall  be  made  by  the  board  of  super- 
visors for  his  actual  disbursements  in  effecting  such  serv- 
ice ;  but  all  papers  may  be  served  by  any  person  delegated 
by  the  court  for  that  purpose.  The  expense  incurred 
in  making  substituted  service  or  service  by  publication 
or  personally  shall  be  a  public  charge. 

SECTION  IX.     HEARING 

Upon  the  return  of  the  summons,  or  at  the  time  set  for 
the  hearing,  the  court  shall  proceed  to  hear  and  determine 
the  case.  The  court  may  conduct  the  examination  of  the 
witnesses  without  the  assistance  of  counsel,  and  may  take 
testimony  and  inquire  into  the  habits,  surroundings,  con- 
dition and  tendencies  of  said  child  to  enable  the  court  to 
render  such  order  or  judgment  as  shall  best  conserve  the 
welfare  of  said  child  and  carry  out  the  objects  of  this 
act,  and  the  court,  if  satisfied  that  the  child  is  in  need 
of  the  care,  discipline  and  protection  of  the  court  may  so 
adjudicate,  and  may,  in  addition,  find  said  child  to  be  in 
a  state  of  delinquency  or  neglect  and  may  further  render 
such  judgment  and  make  such  order  or  commitment  ac- 
cording to  the  circumstances  of  the  case  as  will  best  con- 
serve the  purposes  of  this  act. 

SECTION  X.     DECISION  OF  COURT 

The  court  may  place  the  child  in  the  care  and  control 
of  a  probation  officer  and  may  allow  such  child  to  remain 

260 


Appendix 

in  its  home  subject  to  the  visitation  and  control  of  the 
probation  officer,  to  be  returned  to  the  court  for  further 
proceedings  whenever  such  action  may  appear  to  the  court 
to  be  necessary;  or,  the  court  may  authorize  the  child  to 
be  placed  in  a  suitable  family  home  subject  to  the  friendly 
supervision  of  the  probation  officer  and  the  further  order 
of  the  court;  or,  it  may  authorize  the  child  to  be  boarded 
out  in  some  suitable  family  home  in  such  manner  as  may 
be  provided  by  law,  or  arranged  by  voluntary  contribu- 
tion, or  otherwise,  until  suitable  provision  may  be  made 
for  the  child  in  a  home  without  such  payment;  or,  the 
court  may  commit  the  child  to  any  institution  that  may 
care  for  children  within  or  without  the  county,  incor- 
porated under  the  laws  of,  or  maintained  by  the  State  or 
any  subdivision  thereof. 

SECTION  XL     INTENT  OF  ACT 

It  is  the  intention  of  this  act  that  in  all  proceedings 
coming  under  its  provisions  the  court  shall  proceed  upon 
the  theory  that  said  child  is  the  ward  of  the  State,  and  is 
subject  to  the  discipline  and  entitled  to  the  protection 
which  the  court  should  give  such  child  under  the  condi- 
tions disclosed  in  the  case. 

SECTION  XII.     EXCLUDING    GENERAL    PUBLIC  —  PRO- 
TECTING RECORDS 

The  court  shall  have  power,  upon  the  hearing  of  any 
case  involving  any  child,  to  exclude  the  general  public 
from  the  room  wherein  said  hearing  is  held,  admitting 
thereto  only  such  persons  as  may  have  a  direct  interest  in 
the  case.  The  records  of  all  cases  may  be  withheld  from 

261 


Appendix 

indiscriminate  public  inspection  in  the  discretion  of  the 
court;  but  such  records  shall  be  open  to  inspection  of  such 
a  child,  his  parents,  or  guardians  at  all  times.  The  hear- 
ings may  be  conducted  in  the  judge's  chambers-,  or  in  such 
other  room  or  apartment  as  the  board  of  supervisors  of 
the  county  may  provide  for  such  cases;  and  such  cases 
shall  not  be  heard  in  conjunction  with  the  other  business 
of  the  court. 

SECTION  XIII.     ADJUDICATION  —  No     DISQUALIFICA- 
TION OF  CHILD 

No  adjudication  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall 
operate  as  a  disqualification  of  the  child  for  any  office 
under  any  state  or  municipal  civil  service,  and  such  child 
shall  not  be  denominated  a  criminal  by  reason  of  any  such 
adjudication,  nor  shall  such  adjudication  be  denominated 
a  conviction. 

SECTION  XIV.     RELEASE  OF  CHILD 

Until  the  first  hearing  of  the  case  by  the  court, 
the  chief  probation  officer,  or  any  assistant  proba- 
tion officer,  or  any  other  official  duly  authorized  so 
to  do  by  the  court,  may  release  the  child  upon  its  own 
recognizance,  or  upon  the  recognizance  of  the  parent  or 
person  having  the  custody,  control,  or  supervision  of  the 
child,  to  appear  before  the  court  at  such  time  as  may  be 
therein  fixed.  Any  child  embraced  in  this  act  shall  have 
the  right  now  given  by  law  to  any  person  to  give  bond  or 
other  security  for  its  appearance  at  the  hearing. 


262 


Appendix 

SECTION  XV.    ARREST  WITH  OR  WITHOUT  WARRANT 

Nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  as 
forbidding  the  arrest,  with  or  without  warrant,  of  any 
child,  as  now  or  hereafter  may  be  provided  by  law,  or  as 
forbidding  the  issuing  of  warrants  by  magistrates,  as  pro- 
vided by  law.  Whenever  a  child  less  than  eighteen  years 
of  age  is  brought  before  a  magistrate  in  any  county,  such 
magistrate  shall  transfer  the  case  to  the  county  court  by 
an  order  directing  that  said  child  be  taken  forthwith  to 
the  detention  home.  Such  magistrates  may,  however, 
by  order  admit  such  child  to  bail,  or  release  said  child  in 
the  custody  of  some  suitable  person  as  now  provided  by 
law,  to  appear  before  said  county  court  at  a  time  desig- 
nated in  the  said  order. 

SECTION  XVI.     ALL  PAPERS  TO  BE  TRANSMITTED  TO 
COUNTY  COURT 

All  papers  and  processes  in  the  hands  of  such  magis- 
trate shall  be  forthwith  transmitted  to  the  county  court, 
and  shall  become  part  of  its  records.  The  county  court 
shall  thereupon  proceed  to  hear  and  dispose  of  such  case 
in  the  same  manner  as  if  the  proceeding  had  been  in- 
stituted in  said  county  court  upon  petition,  as  hereinbefore 
provided.  In  all  cases  the  nature  of  the  proceeding  shall 
be  explained  to  said  child,  and,  if  they  appear,  to  the 
parents,  custodian,  or  guardian.  Between  the  time  of 
the  arrest  of  such  child  with  or  without  warrant,  and  the 
appearance  of  said  child  before  the  county  court,  if  not 
released,  he  shall  be  detained  subject  to  the  order  of  the 
court. 

263 


Appendix 

SECTION  XVII.     DISCRETION  OF  COURT  WITH  REFER- 
ENCE TO  CRIMINAL  LAW 

The  court  may,  in  its  discretion,  in  any  case  of  a  de- 
linquent child  brought  before  it  as  herein  provided  permit 
such  child  to  be  proceeded  against  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  that  may  be  in  force  in  this  State  governing  the  com- 
mission of  crimes,  and  in  such  case  the  petition,  if  any, 
filed  under  this  act  shall  be  dismissed  and  the  child  shall 
be  transferred  to  the  court  having  jurisdiction  of  the 
offense. 

SECTION  XVIII.     APPEALS 

An  appeal  may  be  taken  (to  the  Court  of  Appeals) 
from  any  order  of  the  court  committing  any  child  to  an 
institution,  or  from  any  order  changing  the  custody  or 
guardianship  of  any  child,  within  the  time  and  in  the  man- 
ner provided  by  law  or  rule  of  court  for  appeals  in  equity 
cases;  provided,  that  no  such  order  shall  be  superseded, 
but  the  order  of  the  court  in  such  case  shall  stand  until 
reversed  or  modified  by  the  Court  of  Appeals ;  provided, 
further,  that  the  pendency  of  an  appeal  shall  not  preclude 
or  prevent  the  county  court  during  the  pendency  of  such 
an  appeal  at  a  subsequent  hearing  for  cause  shown  to 
modify  any  order  theretofore  made,  although  the  effect  of 
any  such  modification  may  be  to  suspend  the  appeal.  All 
appeals  under  this  act  to  the  Court  of  Appeals  shall  take 
precedence  over  all  other  business  of  the  court. 


264 


Appendix 

SECTION  XIX.     DETENTION  HOME 

The  county  judge  may  arrange  with  an  incorporated 
society  or  association  maintaining  a  suitable  place  of  de- 
tention for  children  in  said  county,  for  the  use  thereof 
as  a  temporary  detention  home  for  children  coming  within 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  may  enter  an  order  which 
shall  be  effectual  for  that  purpose ;  and  a  reasonable  sum 
shall  be  appropriated  by  the  board  of  supervisors  of  the 
county  for  the  expenses  incurred  by  said  society  or  asso- 
ciation for  the  care  of  such  children.  If,  however,  the 
county  judge  shall  certify  that  a  suitable  arrangement  for 
such  use  cannot  be  made,  or  continued,  the  board  of  super- 
visors of  the  county  shall  establish,  equip  and  maintain  a 
home  for  the  temporary  detention  of  such  children  sepa- 
rated entirely  from  any  place  of  confinement  of  adults,  to 
be  called  "  The  Detention  Home,"  which  shall  be  con- 
ducted as  an  agency  of  the  county  court  for  the  purposes 
of  this  act,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  shall  be  furnished  and 
carried  on  as  a  family  home  and  school  in  charge  of  a 
superintendent  and  a  matron  who  shall  reside  therein. 

SECTION  XX.     APPOINTMENT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  AND 

MATRON 

The  county  judge  shall  have  authority  to  appoint  said 
superintendent,  matron  and  the  other  employees  of  said 
Detention  Home  in  the  same  manner  in  which  probation 
officers  are  appointed  under  this  act,  their  salaries  to  be 
fixed  and  paid  in  the  same  manner  as  the  salaries  of  pro- 
bation officers.  The  county  judge  may  appoint  as  such 
superintendent  or  matron  one  of  the  probation  officers, 

265 


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with  or  without  additional  salary.  Suitable  arrangements 
shall  be  made  for  the  education  of  all  children  under  de- 
tention and  to  that  end  the  county  judge  is  authorized 
and  empowered  to  arrange  with  the  Board  of  Education 
of  the  county  or  city  in  which  such  Detention  Home  is 
situated  for  the  necessary  teachers  for  said  children.  The 
necessary  expenses  incurred  in  maintaining  said  Detention 
Home  shall  be  paid  by  the  county.  In  no  case  shall  any 
child  coming  within  the  provisions  of  this  act  and  less 
than  1 6  years  of  age  be  detained  in  or  committed  to  a 
jail,  common  lock-up,  or  other  place  where  said  child  can 
come  into  contact  at  any  time  or  in  any  manner  with 
adults  convicted  or  under  arrest. 

SECTION  XXI.     COOPERATION  OF  SOCIETIES  AND  OTHER 
ORGANIZATIONS 

The  court  is  authorized  to  seek  the  cooperation  of  all 
societies  or  organizations,  public  or  private,  having  for 
their  object  the  protection  or  aid  of  delinquent  or  neg- 
lected children,  to  the  end  that  the  court  may  be  assisted 
in  every  reasonable  way  to  give  to  all  of  such  children 
the  care,  protection,  and  assistance  which  will  conserve 
the  welfare  of  such  children.  And  it  is  hereby  made  the 
duty  of  every  county,  town  or  municipal  official  or  de- 
partment, in  said  county,  to  render  such  assistance  and 
cooperation  within  his  or  its  jurisdictional  power  to  fur- 
ther the  objects  of  this  act.  All  institutions,  associations 
or  other  custodial  agencies  in  which  any  child  may  be, 
coming  within  the  provisions  of  this  act,  are  hereby  re- 
quired to  give  such  information  to  the  court  or  any  of 

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Appendix 

said  officers  appointed  by  it  as  said  court  or  officers  may 
require  for  the  purposes  of  this  act. 

SECTION  XXII.     APPOINTMENT  OF   PROBATION  OFFI- 
CERS 

The  county  court  shall  appoint  a  probation  officer  to 
serve  under  the  direction  of  the  court  in  all  cases  arising 
under  this  act;  such  officer  to  be  paid  out  of  the  funds  of 
the  county.  The  court  may  also  appoint  one  or  more 
deputy  probation  officers  to  be  paid  for  their  services  out 
of  the  funds  of  the  county. 

SECTION  XXIII.     VOLUNTEER  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

In  addition,  the  court  may  appoint  volunteer  proba- 
tion officers  to  serve  without  compensation  subject  to 
such  regulations  and  directions  as  the  court  may  deem 
proper. 

SECTION  XXIV.     APPOINTMENT  ONLY  ON  MERIT 

All  appointments  of  probation  officers  paid  out  of  the 
funds  of  the  county  shall  be  made  on  the  basis  of  merit 
only,  determined  by  a  public  competitive  examination, 
held  by  three  examiners,  appointed  by  the  court  and  ap- 
proved by  the  State  Board  of  Charities.  The  examiners 
shall  conduct  the  examination  of  all  applicants  and  shall 
certify  to  the  court  for  appointment  to  each  position  the 
names  of  the  three  highest  (unless  the  number  of  appli- 
cants is  less  than  three)  from  which  the  appointment  shall 
be  made. 

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Appendix 

SECTION  XXV.     REMOVAL  OF  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

Any  probation  officer  may  be  removed  for  cause  by  the 
judge  of  the  court,  the  reasons  therefor  to  be  assigned 
in  writing  and  forwarded  to  the  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  Correction. 

SECTION  XXVI.     DUTIES  OF  PROBATION  OFFICERS 

Whenever  there  is  to  be  a  child  brought  before  the 
court  under  this  act,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  clerk  of 
said  court  to  notify  the  probation  officer  in  advance.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  probation  officer  to  make  such 
investigation  of  the  child  as  may  be  required  by  the 
court;  to  be  present  in  court  at  the  hearings  of  all  cases 
and  to  furnish  to  the  court  such  information  and  assist- 
ance as  the  judge  may  require;  to  take  charge  of  any 
child  before  and  after  hearing  as  may  be  directed  by  the 
court.  Probation  officers  shall  have  all  the  powers  of 
peace  officers  anywhere  in  the  State  for  all  purposes  of 
this  act.  During  the  probationary  period  of  any  child 
and  during  the  time  that  said  child  may  be  committed  to 
any  institution  or  to  the  care  of  any  association  or  person 
for  custodial  or  disciplinary  purposes,  said  child  shall 
always  be  subject  to  the  friendly  visitation  of  the  proba- 
tion officer  or  other  agent  of  the  court. 

SECTION  XXVII.     ORDER   SUBJECT  TO  MODIFICATION 

Any  final  order  or  judgment  made  by  the  court  in  the 
case  of  any  such  child  shall  be  subject  to  such  modifica- 
tion from  time  to  time  as  the  court  may  consider  to  be 
for  the  welfare  of  such  child.  No  commitment  of  any 

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child  to  any  institution  or  other  custodial  agency  shall 
deprive  the  court  of  the  jurisdiction  to  change  the  form 
of  the  commitment  or  transfer  the  custody  of  said  child 
to  some  other  institution  or  agency  on  such  conditions  as 
the  court  may  see  fit  to  impose,  the  duty  being  constant 
upon  the  court  to  give  to  all  children  subject  to  its  ju- 
risdiction such  oversight  and  control  in  the  premises  as 
will  conduce  to  the  welfare  of  said  child  and  the  best 
interests  of  the  State.  No  order  changing  the  form  of 
commitment  or  transfer  of  custody  of  a  child  to  some 
other  institution  or  agency  shall  be  made  except  upon 
ten  days'  written  notice  to  the  guarcjian,  institution,  or 
agency,  to  whose  care  such  child  has  been  committed, 
unless  such  guardian,  institution,  or  agency  consents 
thereto. 

SECTION  XXVIII.     COMMITMENT  OR  RELEASE  OF  GIRLS 

All  girls  embraced  within  the  provisions  of  this  act 
who  shall  be  committed  to  or  released  from  any  in- 
stitution shall  be  taken  to  and  from  such  institution  by 
a  woman. 

SECTION  XXIX.     REFEREE  FOR  GIRLS'  AND  OTHER 

CASES 

The  county  court  may  appoint  one  or  more  persons  as 
probation  officers  to  act  as  referee  in  the  first  instance  to 
hear  any  cases  coming  within  the  provisions  of  this  act 
and  make  report  thereof  together  with  said  referee's  con- 
clusions and  recommendations.  If  no  exceptions  be 
taken  to  said  report  and  no  review  be  asked  thereof,  such 
report  and  recommendations,  if  confirmed,  shall  become 

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the  judgment  of  said  court.  A  review  of  the  conclusions 
and  recommendations  of  said  referee  may  be  had  by  any 
child,  the  parent,  guardian,  or  custodian  of  any  child,  by 
filing  a  petition  for  review  thereof  with  said  referee  at 
any  time  within  three  days  after  the  entry  of  the  rinding 
of  said  referee. 

SECTION  XXX.     SALARIES 

The  probation  officer  shall  receive  such  salary  as  the 
county  court  may  prescribe,  not  exceeding  $3,000  per 
annum  in  counties  of  300,000  inhabitants  and  less  than 
100,000  inhabitants.  Deputy  probation  officers  shall  re- 
ceive such  salaries  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  county 
court,  not  exceeding  $1200.00  per  annum  in  counties  of 
300,000  and  less  than  100,000  inhabitants,  and  not  ex- 
ceeding $900.00  per  annum  in  counties  of  less  than  100,- 
ooo  inhabitants. 

SECTION  XXXI.     PAYMENT  OF  CUSTODIAL  CARE 
BY  PARENT  OR  GUARDIAN 

Whenever  any  child  is  found  to  be  in  such  condition, 
surroundings  or  under  such  improper  or  insufficient  guard- 
ianship as  to  lead  the  court,  in  its  discretion,  to  take  the 
custody  of  said  child  away  from  its  parents  and  place  it 
in  some  institution  or  under  some  other  custodial  agency, 
the  court  may,  after  issuing  and  service  of  an  order  to 
show  cause  upon  the  parents  or  other  person  having  the 
duty  under  the  law  to  support  said  child,  adjudge  that 
the  expense  of  caring  for  said  child  by  said  custodial 
agency  or  institution  as  fixed  by  the  court  shall  be  paid 

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by  the  person  or  persons  bound  by  law  to  support  said 
child.  In  such  event  such  person  or  persons  shall  be 
liable  to  pay  to  such  custodial  agency  or  institution  and 
in  such  manner  as  the  court  may  direct  the  money  so 
adjudged  to  be  payable  by  him  or  them.  Wilful  failure 
to  pay  said  sum  may  be  punished  as  a  contempt  of  court 
and  the  order  of  the  court  for  the  payment  of  said  money 
may  be  also  enforced  as  money  judgments  of  courts  of 
record  are  enforced. 

SECTION  XXXII.     MEDICAL  CARE  OF  CHILDREN 

Whenever  a  child  within  the  jurisdiction  of  said  court 
and  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  appears  to  the  court 
to  be  in  need  of  medical  care,  a  suitable  order  may  be 
made  for  the  treatment  of  such  child  in  a  hospital,  and 
the  expense  thereof  shall  be  a  county  charge.  For  that 
purpose  the  court  may  cause  any  such  child  to  be  exam- 
ined by  any  health  officer  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  or  by  any  duly  licensed  physician.  The  county  may 
recover  the  said  expense  in  a  suitable  action  from  the 
person  or  persons  liable  for  the  furnishing  of  necessaries 
for  said  child. 

SECTION  XXXIII.     RETURN  OF  CHILD  TO  PARENT 

Whenever  it  shall  appear  to  the  court,  in  the  case  of 
any  child  who  has  been  taken  from  its  home  or  the  cus- 
tody of  its  parents,  that  conditions  have  so  changed  that 
it  is  consistent  with  the  public  good  and  the  welfare  of 
said  child  that  the  parents  again  have  the  custody  of  said 
child,  the  court  may  make  a  suitable  order  in  the  premises. 


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SECTION  XXXIV.     RELIGIOUS  BELIEF  OF  PARENTS 
REGARDED 

In  committing  any  child  to  any  custodial  agency  or 
placing  it  under  any  guardianship  other  than  that  of  its 
natural  guardians,  the  court  shall,  as  far  as  practicable, 
select  as  the  custodial  agency  some  individual  holding  the 
same  religious  belief  as  the  parents  of  said  child,  or,  in 
the  case  of  private  institutions  or  associations,  some  in- 
stitution or  association  governed  by  persons  of  like  re- 
ligious faith. 

SECTION  XXXV.     APPOINTMENT  OF  GUARDIAN 

Whenever,  in  the  course  of  a  proceeding  instituted 
under  this  act,  it  shall  appear  to  the  said  court  that  the 
welfare  of  said  child  will  be  promoted  by  the  appointment 
of  an  individual  as  general  guardian  of  his  property,  and 
of  his  person,  when  such  child  is  not  committed  to  any 
institution  or  to  the  custody  of  any  incorporated  society, 
the  court  shall  have  jurisdiction  to  make  such  appointment 
either  upon  the  application  of  the  child  or  some  relative 
or  friend,  or  upon  the  court's  own  motion.  In  that  event 
an  order  to  show  cause  may  be  made  by  the  court,  to  be 
served  upon  the  parent  or  parents  of  said  child  in  such 
manner  and  for  such  time  prior  to  the  hearing  as  the 
court  may  deem  reasonable.  In  any  case  arising  under 
this  act,  the  court  may  determine  as  between  parents 
whether  the  father  or  mother  shall  have  the  custody, 
tuition  and  direction  of  said  child. 


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SECTION  XXXVI.     RESTITUTION 

If  in  adjudging  a  child  to  be  delinquent,  the  court  shall 
find  as  an  element  of  such  delinquency  that  such  child 
has  committed  an  act  involving  liability  in  a  civil  suit 
the  court  may  require  that  such  child  shall  make  restitu- 
tion or  reparation  to  the  injured  person  to  such  an  ex- 
tent, in  such  a  sum  and  upon  such  conditions  as  the  court 
shall  determine. 

SECTION  XXXVII.     PUNISHMENT  OF  ADULT 

Whenever  in  the  course  of  any  proceedings  instituted 
under  this  act,  it  shall  appear  to  the  said  court  that  a 
parent,  guardian,  or  person  having  the  custody,  control, 
or  supervision  of  any  delinquent  or  neglected  child  as 
defined  by  the  statutes  of  this  State,  or  any  other  person 
has  knowingly  or  wilfully  encouraged,  aided,  caused, 
abetted,  or  connived  at  such  state  of  delinquency  or  neg- 
lect, or  has  knowingly  or  wilfully  done  any  act  or  acts 
to  directly  produce,  promote  or  contribute  to  the  condi- 
tions which  render  such  a  child  delinquent  or  neglected, 
the  court  shall  have  jurisdiction  in  such  matters  and  shall 
cause  such  parent,  guardian,  or  other  person,  as  the  case 
may  be,  to  be  brought  before  it  upon  either  a  summons  or 
a  warrant  for  such  order  in  the  premises  as  the  court  may 
see  fit  to  make.  The  court  shall  have  full  power  to  hear 
and  determine  said  matter  against  such  parent,  guardian, 
or  other  person  in  the  manner  provided  by  law  for  the 
trial  of  misdemeanors  and  upon  conviction  such  parent, 
guardian,  or  other  person  may  be  punished  as  provided  by 
law  in  cases  of  misdemeanor;  provided,  however,  that 

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for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  its  judgment  the  court  may, 
in  its  discretion,  continue  the  proceeding  against  such 
parent,  guardian,  or  other  person  from  time  to  time  and 
release  such  parent,  guardian  or  other  person  on  proba- 
tion. The  court  may,  further,  in  its  discretion,  as  part 
of  the  judgment  require  such  person  to  enter  into  a  bond 
with  or  without  surety  in  such  sums  as  the  court  may 
direct  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  the  court. 

SECTION  XXXVIII.     ADVISORY  BOARD 

The  judge  of  each  county  court  may  appoint  a  board 
of  not  less  than  six,  nor  more  than  ten  reputable  in- 
habitants, of  which  number  one-half  shall  be  men  and 
one-half  women,  who  shall  serve  without  compensation 
or  salary  of  any  kind  whatsoever,  to  be  called  the  Ad- 
visory Board  of  the  County  Court,  Juvenile  Session. 
The  members  of  said  board  shall  hold  office  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  court.  The  duties  of  said  board  shall 
be  as  follows : 

(a)  To  visit  as  often  as  twice  a  year  all  institutions, 
societies  or  associations  receiving  children  under  this  act. 
Such  visits  shall  be  made  by  not  less  than  two  of  the 
members  of  said  board,  who  shall  go  together  and  make  a 
report,  and  said  board  shall  report  to  the  county  court 
from  time  to  time  the  condition  of  the  children  received 
by  or  in  charge  of  any  persons,  institutions  or  associa- 
tions, and  shall  make  an  annual  report  to  the  judge  of 
the  county  court. 

(b)  To  advise  and  cooperate  with  the  judge  of  the 
county  court  upon  all  matters  affecting  the  workings  of 
this  act,  and  to  recommend  to  the  court  any  and  all  need- 

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ful  measures  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act. 

SECTION  XXXIX.  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS 
The  court  shall  have  power  to  devise  and  publish  rules 
and  regulate  the  procedure  for  cases  coming  within  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  and  for  the  conduct  of  all  proba- 
tion and  other  officers  of  the  court,  and  such  rules  shall 
be  enforced  and  construed  beneficially  for  the  remedial 
purposes  embraced  herein.  The  court  may  devise  and 
cause  to  be  printed  for  public  use  such  forms  for  records 
and  for  the  various  petitions,  orders,  processes  and  other 
papers  and  reports  connected  with  cases  coming  within 
the  provisions  of  this  act.  All  expenses  incurred  by  the 
court  in  complying  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall 
be  paid  out  of  county  funds. 

SECTION  XL 

All  provisions  of  law  inconsistent  with  or  repugnant 
to  this  act  shall  be  considered  inapplicable  to  the  cases 
arising  under  this  act. 

SUGGESTED  ACT  FOR  CONTRIBUTING  TO  DELINQUENCY  OR 

NEGLECT 

AN  ACT  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  PER- 
SONS RESPONSIBLE  FOR,  OR  DIRECTLY  PRO- 
MOTING OR  CONTRIBUTING  TO  THE  CONDITIONS  THAT 
RENDER  A  CHILD  NEGLECTED  OR  DELINQUENT 

Be  it  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Com- 
monwealth: 

SECTION  I.     Any  parent  or  parents,  or  legal  guardian, 

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or  person  having  the  custody  of  any  neglected  or  delin- 
quent child,  as  defined  by  the  statutes  of  this  State,  or 
any  other  person  who  shall  knowingly  or  wilfully  encour- 
age, aid,  cause,  abet  or  connive  at  such  state  of  neglect 
or  delinquency,  or  shall  knowingly  or  wilfully  do  any  act 
or  acts  that  directly  produce,  promote  or  contribute  to  the 
conditions  which  render  such  child  a  neglected  or 
delinquent  child,  as  so  defined,  or  who  wilfully  neg- 
lect to  do  that  which  will  directly  tend  to  prevent 
such  state  of  neglect  or  delinquency,  or  conditions  that 
make  such,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
a  misdemeanor  and,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  one  hundred  ($100.00) 
dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  or  work- 
house for  not  more  than  fifty  days,  or  both  by  such  fine 
and  imprisonment.  Provided,  that,  instead  of  imposing 
the  punishment  hereinbefore  provided,  the  court  shall 
have  the  power  to  enter  an  order  suspending  sentence  and 
releasing  the  defendant  from  custody  on  probation,  for 
the  space  of  one  year,  upon  his  or  her  entering  into  a 
recognizance,  with  or  without  sureties,  in  such  sums  as 
the  court  may  direct.  The  condition  of  the  recognizance 
shall  be  such  that  if  the  defendant  shall  make  his  or  her 
personal  appearance  in  court  whenever  ordered  to  do  so 
within  a  year,  and  shall  provide  and  care  for  such  neg- 
lected or  delinquent  child  in  such  manner  as  to  prevent 
a  continuance  or  repetition  of  such  state  of  neglect  or 
delinquency  or  as  otherwise  may  be  directed  by  the  court, 
and  shall  further  Comply  with  the  terms  of  such  order, 
then  the  recognizance  shall  be  void,  otherwise  it  shall 
remain  in  full  force  and  effect.  If  the  court  be  satisfied 

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by  information  or  due  proof,  under  oath,  that  at  any  time 
during  the  year  the  defendant  has  violated  the  terms  of 
such  order,  it  may  forthwith  revoke  such  order  and  sen- 
tence him  or  her  under  the  original  conviction.  Unless 
so  sentenced,  the  defendant  shall,  at  the  end  of  such  year, 
be  discharged  and  such  conviction  shall  become  void. 

SEC.  2.  In  trials  under  this  Act,  the  person  proceeded 
against  shall  have  the  right  to  a  trial  by  jury  which  shall 
be  granted  as  in  other  cases,  unless  waived.  If  the  find- 
ing of  the  jury  be  against  the  person  tried  their  verdict 
shall  so  state,  in  which  event  the  court,  in  its  discretion, 
may  enter  such  judgment  as  to  it  seems  needful  in  the 
premises. 

SEC.  3.  The  Juvenile  Courts  of  the  several  counties 
of  the  State  shall  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  all  cases 
coming  within  the  provisions  of  this  Act. 

SEC.  4.  This  Act  shall  be  liberally  construed  in  favor 
of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  the  protection  of  the  child 
from  neglect,  or  omission  of  parental  duty  toward  the 
child  by  its  parents,  and  further  to  protect  the  child  from 
the  effects  of  the  improper  conduct  or  acts  of  any  person 
which  may  cause,  encourage  or  contribute  to  the  neglect 
or  delinquency  of  such  child,  although  such  person  is  in 
no  way  related  to  such  child. 

SEC.  5.  If  any  section  of  this  Act  shall  be  held  to  be 
invalid  such  fact  shall  not  affect  any  other  section  of  this 
Act,  it  being  the  intention  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
enacting  this  Act  to  enact  each  section  separately;  and  if 
any  proviso  or  exception  contained  in  any  section  of  this 
act  shall  be  held  to  be  invalid  such  fact  shall  not  affect 
the  remaining  portion  of  said  section,  it  being  the  inten- 

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tion  of  the  General  Assembly  to  enact  each  section  of  this 
Act  and  each  proviso  and  exception  thereto  separate. 

RULES  OF   COURT  GOVERNING  THE   PLACE  OF  DETENTION 

RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  ADMIN- 
ISTRATION OF  THE  JUVENILE  DETENTION 
HOME  OF 

PREAMBLE 

IT  is  DESIRED  THAT  THE  JUVENILE  DETENTION  HOME 
HAVE  AS  MUCH  AS  POSSIBLE  THE  APPEARANCE  AND 
ATMOSPHERE  OF  A  FAMILY  HOME.  To  THIS  END, 
ALL  EMPLOYEES  ARE  EXPECTED  AND  REQUIRED  TO  BE 
KIND,  PATIENT  AND  HELPFUL  TO  THE  CHILDREN 

DIVISION  I.     GENERAL  DUTIES  OF  EMPLOYEES 

I.  Duties  of  Superintendent.  The  superintendent,  sub- 
ject to  supervision  by  the  judge  of  the  Children's  Court, 
shall  be  the  administrative  head  of  the  Juvenile  Deten- 
tion Home;  and  shall  be  responsible  for  the  custody  and 
care  of  all  children  admitted  to  the  Home,  and  for  its 
proper  administration.  She  shall  reside  in  the  Home  and 
shall  have  no  other  business  or  profession.  She  shall 
direct  the  work  of  its  other  employees,  except  the  house, 
physician,  and  shall  report  to  the  judge  concerning  any 
negligence,  incompetency  or  misconduct  on  the  part  of 
any  such  employee.  She  shall  keep  records  of  all  chil- 
dren admitted  to  the  Home,  and  complete  accounts  of  all 
receipts  and  expenditures.  She  shall  make  an  annual 

report  to  the  judge  for  the  year  ending ,  and 

on  or  before  the  first  day  of  February  of  each  year  she 

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shall  file  with  the  judge  a  statement  of  the  appropriations' 
needed  by  the  Home  for  the  ensuing  fiscal  year.  She 
shall  also  perform  such  other  duties  as  are  required  by 
these  rules  and  regulations,  or  as  may  be  ordered  by  the 
judge. 

2.  Duties  of  house  physician.     The  house  physician 
shall  visit  the  Home  daily  and  make  a  thorough  physical 
examination  of  each  child  as  soon  as  possible  after  its 
admission  to  the  Home.     He  shall  have  direct  charge  of 
all  sick  children  (except  as  provided  in  Rule  II),  and  may 
require  special  diets  when  necessary.     He  is  hereby  au- 
thorized to  require,  when  necessary,  the  assistance  of  any 
employee  of  the  Home  or  of  a  nurse  in  caring  for  sick 
children.     He  shall  from  time  to  time  inspect  the  sani- 
tary condition  of  the  Home,  and  make  recommendations 
concerning  the  same  to  the  judge  and  the  superintendent. 
He  shall  make  an  annual  report  to  the  judge. 

3.  Duties  of  other  employees.     All  other  employees 
shall  obey  whatever  orders  or  instructions  may  be  given 
by  the  superintendent,  and  shall  observe  all  the  provisions 
of  these  rules  and  regulations.     Unless  otherwise  per- 
mitted by  the  judge,  they  shall  devote  their  entire  time  to 
the  work  of  the  Home  and  shall  engage  in  no  other  busi- 
ness or  profession.     They  shall  at  all  times  set  a  good 
example  to  the  children  in  regard  to  personal  appearance, 
language,  habits  and  conduct. 

4.  Duties  of  volunteer  assistants.     No  volunteer  assist- 
ant shall  be  permitted  to  assist  in  the  supervision,  educa- 
tion, or  entertainment  of  children  or  in  the  work  of  the 
Home,  except  upon  the  consent  of  the  judge.     All  such 
volunteer  assistants  shall  respect  the  directions  of  the 

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superintendent,   and  the  provisions  of  these  rules  and 
regulations. 

5.  Vacations,  and  hours  off.     The  superintendent  and 
if  practicable  each  other  employee  shall  have  a  vacation  of 
two  weeks  each  year.     Each  employee  shall  each  week 
have  at  least  one-half  day's  leave  of  absence  at  such  time 
as  shall  be  determined  by  the  superintendent. 

DIVISION    II.       ADMISSION    OF   AND    CARE   OF    CHILDREN 

6.  Admission  of  children.     The  Home  shall  be  open  at 
all  hours  of  the  day  and  night  for  the  reception  of  chil- 
dren actually  or  apparently  under  18  years  of  age  (not 
infants  in  arms)  under  arrest  or  found  in  public  places 
while  lost.     All  police  officers  or  other  persons  bringing 
children  to  the  Home  shall  be  required  to  fill  out  a  cer- 
tificate of  admission  which  shall  be  kept  by  the  superin- 
tendent as  her  warrant  for  detaining  such  children.     Any 
child  brought  to  the  home  and  found  to  be  18  years  old 
or  over  shall  be  at  once  reported  or  taken  to  the  nearest 
police  precinct  station. 

7.  Records.     The  superintendent  shall  keep  in  an  Ad- 
mission Index  a  record  of  each  child  brought  to  the 
Home,  and  such  other  records  concerning  each  such  child 
as  the  judge  may  require.     She  shall  report  to  the  judge 
at  or  before  the  next  session  of  the  Children's  Court  con- 
cerning all  children  brought  to  the  Home,  and  shall  also 
report  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  chief  probation  officer 
concerning  all  such  children  except  lost  children. 

8.  Notification  of  parents.     As  soon  as  possible  after 
the  admission  of  each  child  into  the  Home,  the  superin- 
tendent shall  ascertain  the  child's  correct  name  and  ad- 

280 


Appendix 

dress.  Unless  the  superintendent  has  reliable  knowledge 
that  a  parent  or  guardian  or  other  person  acting  in 
parental  capacity  to  such  child,  is  already  aware  of  the 
child's  admission  to  the  Home,  she  shall  at  once  notify 
such  parent,  guardian  or  other  person  of  the  child's  ad- 
mission, and  as  to  the  cause,  and  when  the  child  is  to  be 
brought  before  the  Court.  Such  notification  shall  be  sent 
by  mail,  and  if  such  parent,  guardian  or  other  person  is  in 
,  also  by  a  messenger  or  telephone. 

9.  Bathing  and  cleanliness.     Each  child  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  being  received  into  the  Home  shall  be  bathed, 
and  its  head  shall  be  examined  and  disinfected.     No 
child's  hair  shall  be  cut  except  on  consent  of  a  parent  of 
the  child  or  order  of  the  judge.     Each  child  shall  be  given 
a  bath  at  least  weekly.     Each  child  shall  have  the  use  of 
individual  towels,  soap  and  toothbrush.     Care  shall  be 
taken  to  insure  that  no  linens  used  by  any  child  having  a 
contagious  or  infectious  disease  shall  come  into  contact 
with  the  other  children  or  with  the  linen  used  by  them. 

10.  Clothing.     Before  being  allowed  to  mingle  with 
other  children,  each  child  shall  be  provided  with  clean 
clothes  and  a  pair  of  slippers  to  be  worn  during  its  stay. 
All  clothing  worn  by  each  child  at  the  time  of  its  admission 
shall  be  fumigated,  or,  upon  order  of  the  judge,  destroyed. 

11.  Physical  examination  and  medical  care.     The  su- 
perintendent upon  receiving  each  child  into  the  Home 
shall  seek  to  ascertain  whether  it  is  suffering  from  any 
disease,  and  if  it  appears  to  be,  she  shall  isolate  the  child 
and  at  once  notify  the  house  physician.     As  soon  as  pos- 
sible within  the  first  twenty-four  hours  after  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  Home,  each  child,  not  a  lost  child,  shall  be 

281 


Appendix 

given  a  thorough  physical  examination  by  the  house  physi- 
cian, who  shall  make  a  written  report  of  his  findings  to 
the  judge.  If  any  child  is  taken  ill  during  its  stay  in 
the  Home,  the  superintendent  shall  at  once  notify  the 
house  physician.  Upon  filing  a  written  certificate  with 
the  superintendent,  the  house  physician  may  order  any 
sick  child  to  be  taken  to  a  specialist  or  hospital  for  treat- 
ment. Upon  special  request  and  upon  guarantee  that  it 
will  not  impose  any  expense  on  the  Home,  a  child  may 
be  attended  by  its  own  physician,  provided  that  no  such 
physician  shall  have  authority  to  remove  such  a  child 
from  the  Home  without  permission  from  the  house  physi- 
cian. All  drugs  and  medicines,  when  not  in  use,  shall  be 
kept  locked.  No  medicine  shall  be  given  to  any  child, 
except  on  order  or  consent  of  the  house  physician. 

12.  Segregation  and  supervision.     All  children  shall 
be  segregated  by  sex,  and,  so  far  as  practicable,  by  age. 
No  child  known  or  believed  to  be  vicious  or  immoral  or 
to  have  frequented  disorderly  or  questionable  resorts  shall 
be  permitted  to  associate  with  younger  children  or  those 
not  depraved  or  immoral.     Children  committed  to  the 
Home  on  court  order  shall  also  be  segregated  so  far  as 
practicable    from    other    children.     The    superintendent 
shall  endeavor  to  have  all  children  supervised  by  an  adult 
at  all  times. 

13.  Sleeping  accommodations.     Each  child  shall  sleep 
in  a  separate  bed  which  shall  be  no  nearer  than  three  feet 
to  any  other  bed.     Each  child  when  admitted  to  the  Home 
shall  be  given  clean  sheets,  a  clean  pillow  case,  and  a  clean 
nightgown,  which  shall  be  changed  at  least  weekly  there- 
after during  its  stay.     The  clothes  worn  by  each  child 

282 


Appendix 

during  the  day  shall  be  placed  by  the  superintendent  or 
an  assistant  where  the  child  cannot  reach  them  during  the 
night  All  children  must  be  in  bed  by  8 130  p.  M.  in  the 
summer,  and  7:30  p.  M.  in  the  winter. 

14.  Meals.     The  superintendent  shall  provide  an  eco- 
nomical, wholesome  and  nourishing  dietary  which  she 
shall  submit  from  time  to  time  to  the  house  physician  for 
approval.     She  shall  also  adopt  a  schedule  of  meal  hours, 
adapted  to  the  season,   and  all  meals  shall  be  served 
promptly  on  time.     So  far  as  practicable,  boys  and  girls 
shall  eat  separately.     The  superintendent  or  some  other 
employee  designated  by  her  shall  count  all  knives,  forks 
and  spoons  used  at  each  meal,  and  shall  account  for  the 
same  before  the  children  leave  the  dining-room. 

15.  Instruction  and  occupation.     The  superintendent 
shall  endeavor  to  keep  the  children  occupied  during  the 
major  part  of  the  day.     She  may  require  the  older  chil- 
dren to  assist  with  the  housework',  and  shall  aim  to  make 
such  work  educational.     She  shall  seek  to  secure  from 
time  to  time  the  assistance  of  teachers  or  other  persons 
to  instruct  the  children  in  letters,  music,  manual  work  or 
other  subjects. 

1 6.  Recreation.     All  children  shall  have  at  least  one 
hour  daily  for  physical  recreation  and  exercise,  which  so 
far  as  possible  shall  be  in  the  open  air.     The  superin- 
tendent shall  furnish  the  children  with  proper  reading 
matter  and  games  and  other  forms  of  entertainment 

17.  Property  of  children.     Each  child  upon  being  re- 
ceived into  the  Home  shall  surrender  his  or  her  posses- 
sions which  shall  be  placed  in  an  envelope  or  package. 
Such  envelope  or  package  shall  be  properly  labeled  with 

283 


Appendix 

the  name  of  the  child,  and  shall  be  returned  to  the  child 
on  leaving  the  Home. 

1 8.  Gifts  to  children.     All  food,  clothing  or  other  ar- 
ticles left  at  or  sent  to  the  Home  for  any  child  shall  be 
inspected  by  the  superintendent  to  insure  that  they  contain 
no  tobacco,  knives,  pins,  metal  or  other  things  undesirable 
or  dangerous  for  the  child  to  have.     The  superintendent 
may  use  her  discretion  in  permitting  gifts  to  be  delivered 
to  the  children. 

19.  Letters,  telephone  and  newspapers.     All  letters  or 
other  communications  sent  to  any  child  in  the  Home  shall 
be  read  by  the  superintendent  before  being  delivered  to 
such  child.     Each  child  may  write  and  mail,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Home,  at  least  one  letter  within  the  first 
twenty- four  hours  after  its  admission ;  at  least  one  letter 
weekly  thereafter,  and  such  other  letters  as  the  superin- 
tendent may  permit,  provided  that  no  such  letter  shall  be 
mailed  or  otherwise  sent  until  read  and  approved  by  the 
superintendent.     No  child  shall  be  permitted  to  use  the 
telephone,  except  on  special  permission  by  the  superin- 
tendent.    No  child  while  in  the  Home  shall  be  permitted 
to  read  any  newspaper  account  of  its  arrest  or  court  hear- 
ing, or  that  of  any  other  child  in  the  Home.     The  super- 
intendent shall  allow  no  child  to  read  any  newspaper  until 
first  inspected  by  the  superintendent. 

20.  Visitors.  Members  of  the  family  of  any  child  in 
the  Home  or  its  clergyman  or  attorney,  unless  otherwise 
forbidden  by  the  judge,  shall  be  allowed  to  visit  such 
child  on  any  week-day  between  the  hours  of  10  A.  M.  and 
4  p.  M.  Other  persons  shall  not  be  allowed  to  visit  any 
particular  child,  except  on  special  permission  from  the 

284 


Appendix 

judge,  the  chief  probation  officer  or  the  superintendent. 
No  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age  shall  be  permitted  to 
visit  an  inmate,  unless  it  is  a  brother  or  sister  of  such 
inmate.  Visitors  desiring  to  interview  particular  chil- 
dren shall  have  such  interviews  in  a  room  where  no  other 
children  are  present,  and  the  superintendent  may  limit 
the  time  of  such  interviews.  The  superintendent  or  some 
other  employee,  so  far  as  practicable,  shall  be  present 
during  all  such  interviews,  and  shall  allow  no  improper 
conversation,  or,  without  special  permission,  no  articles 
to  be  given  to  the  child.  All  visitors  desiring  to  inspect 
the  Home  shall  be  accompanied  through  the  building  by 
the  superintendent  or  some  other  employee.  Once 
each  year,  the  superintendent  shall  invite  the  mayor,  the 
commissioner  of  public  safety,  the  superintendent  of 
police,  the  superintendent  of  public  education,  and  such 
other  officials  and  citizens  as  may  be  designated  by  the 
judge,  to  inspect  the  Home.  All  visitors  shall  be  re- 
quired by  the  superintendent  to  sign  their  names  in  a 
register. 

21.  Publicity  and  photographs.  No  employee  shall  fur- 
nish any  information  in  regard  to  any  child  in  the  Home 
to  any  person  except  its  parents  or  relatives  or  the  proper 
public  officials,  without  special  permission  from  the  judge 
or  chief  probation  officer.  No  employee  shall  show,  loan 
or  surrender  any  records,  documents  or  other  papers,  be- 
longing to  the  court  or  probation  officers  and  pertaining 
to  a  particular  child,  to  any  person  not  a  proper  officer  of 
the  law,  except  on  special  permission  from  the  judge  or 
chief  probation  officer.  No  employee  shall  make  to  any 
visitor  any  disparaging  remark,  sign  or  gesture  concern- 

285 


Appendix 

ing  any  particular  child.  No  child  in  the  Home  shall  be 
photographed  without  the  written  permission  of  the 
judge.  No  employee  shall  give  any  information  to  any 
newspaper  representative  concerning  any  particular  child 
in  the  Home  or  concerning  the  treatment  of  the  children 
or  the  administration  of  the  Home  without  the  permis- 
sion of  the  judge. 

22.  Discipline.     Any  child  who  is  unruly,  destructive 
to  property,  or  who  otherwise  seriously  misbehaves  in 
the  Home,  may  be  confined  by  the  superintendent  in  a 
separate  room  and  be  deprived  of  certain  privileges.     If 
such  discipline  is  not  effective,  the  superintendent  shall 
within  twenty- four  hours  report  the  facts  to  the  judge. 
All  employees  are  forbidden  to  use  any  corporal  force 
or  violence  toward   any   child   unless   imperative   as   a 
measure  of  self-defense. 

23.  Permission  to  leave  the  Home  temporarily.     No 
child,  unless  accompanied  by  the  superintendent,  a  pro- 
bation officer  or  other  employee  of  the  Home,  shall  be 
permitted  to  leave  the  Home  or  the  yard  connected  there- 
with temporarily,  without  special  permission  from  the 
judge. 

DIVISION    III.       ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    HOME 

24.  Order  and  cleanliness  of  Home.     The  superintend- 
ent shall  see  that  the  Home  is  kept  orderly  and  clean 
throughout  all  its  parts. 

25.  Heating  and  ventilation.     Each  room  shall  be  kept 
properly  ventilated  at  all  times,  and  so  far  as  practicable 
fresh  air  shall  be  admitted  to  the  living  and  sleeping 
quarters  at  all  hours.     Rooms  where  the  children  are 

286 


Appendix 

kept  shall  be  heated  to  a  temperature  of  at  least  65  de- 
grees and  not  more  than  75  degrees  Fahrenheit  during 
the  winter. 

26.  Lights.     A  light  shall  be  kept  burning  in  the  front 
office,  in  the  girls'  sleeping  quarters  or  an  adjoining  room, 
and  in  the  boys'  sleeping  quarters  or  an  adjoining  room, 
all  night.     The  superintendent  shall  keep  an  adequate 
number  of  kerosene  lamps  ready  for  use  in  case  of 
emergency. 

27.  Prevention  of  fire,  and  fire  escapes.     No  rubbish 
shall  be  allowed  to  accumulate  in  the  basement  or  in  any 
part  of  the  Home.     Ashes  shall  be  kept  only  in  metal 
receptacles.     Matches,  oil,  and  other  combustibles  shall 
be  kept  out  of  the  reach  of  the  children.     All  fire  extin- 
guishers shall  be  kept  in  proper  working  order.     The 
superintendent  shall  annually  request  the  chief  of  the 
fire  department  to  inspect  the  Home  and  to  make  recom- 
mendations   for  fire   protection.     Each   employee   shall 
have  on  his  or  her  person  at  all  times  a  key  to  the  fire 
escapes  and  the  other  avenues  of  egress  in  case  of  fire. 

28.  Supervision  of  doors  and  windows.     The  superin- 
tendent or  some  one  designated  by  her,  shall  each  day 
examine  all  screens,  bars,  doors  and  windows  as  to  their 
proper  condition.     She  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  keys 
owned  by  the  Home,  to  whom  they  are  entrusted,  and 
when  given  out  or  returned  to  her  custody.     She  shall 
not  entrust  a  door  key  to  any  child. 

29.  Care  of  property  of  Home.     The  superintendent 
shall  make  an  annual  inventory  of  all  property  belonging 
to  the  Home,  and  shall  see  that  it  is  properly  protected 
and  cared  for.     She  shall  mark  all  linen  and  articles  of 

287 


Appendix 

clothing  belonging  to  the  Home  with  indelible  ink.  She 
shall  not  give  away,  sell  or  destroy  any  property  of  the 
Home  without  permission  from  the  judge. 

30.  Purchase  of  supplies.     All  furniture,  other  equip- 
ment, supplies  and  ordinary  services  necessary  for  the 
Home  shall  be  ordered  from  the  proper  authorities  on 
requisition  by  the  superintendent,  and  she  shall  keep  a 
record  of  all  such  requisitions.     No  article  of  furniture 
or  permanent  equipment  costing  more  than  five  dollars 
shall  be  ordered  by  her,  without  the  consent  of  the  judge. 

31.  Repairs.     The  superintendent  shall  report  to  the 
judge  concerning  all  needed  repairs,  alterations  or  addi- 
tions to  the  building,  or  needed  repairs  to  the  furniture 
or  other  equipment.     She  shall  order  such  repairs,  altera- 
tions or  additions  as  may  be  approved  by  the  judge,  ex- 
cept that  in  case  of  emergency  she  may  order  necessary 
repairs  without  waiting  for  the  approval  of  the  judge. 
She  shall  see  that  any  writing  on  the  walls  or  other  de- 
facement of  the  property  is  promptly  erased  or  repaired. 

32.  Expenses  and  accounts.     The  superintendent  shall 
administer  the  Home  with  as  great  a  degree  of  economy 
as  is  consistent  with  the  welfare  of  the  children.     She 
shall  keep  a  complete  and  accurate  account  of  all  expendi- 
tures charged  against  the  appropriations  of  the  Home. 
Her  accounts  shall  show  the  expenditures  for  salaries, 
wages  of   regular   employees,   extra   help,   heat,   lights, 
meals,  drugs  and  medicines,  and  such  other  items  as  may 
be  required  by  the  judge.     All  bills  shall  be  submitted  to 
the  judge  for  audit  before  being  sent  to  the  city  treasurer 
for  payment. 

288 


Appendix 

33.  Donations  to  the  Home.     The  superintendent  shall 
keep  a  list  of  all  donations  to  the  Home.     No  employee 
shall  solicit  donations  of  any  kind  for  the  Home  or  for 
the  children  without  the  consent  of  the  judge. 

34.  Presents  to  employees.     No  employee  shall  accept 
any  money  or  other  gift  from  any  child  in  the  Home,  or 
any  relative  or  friend  of  such  child,  without  the  consent 
of  the  judge. 

35.  Liquor    and    tobacco.     No    spiritous    or    intoxi- 
cating liquor  of  any  kind  shall  be  brought  into  the  Home 
except  upon  the  direction  of  the  house  physician  for  med- 
ical purposes.     No  employee  shall  drink  any  spiritous  or 
intoxicating  liquors   while   in   the   employment   of   the 
Home.     No  employee   shall   use  tobacco  while  in   the 
Home. 

36.  Complaints.     Any  employee  having  any  complaint 
concerning  the  administration  of  the  Home  or  the  care  or 
treatment  of  the  children  shall  report  the  same  to  the 
superintendent,  and  the  superintendent  shall  report  all 
complaints  coming  to  her  attention  to  the  judge. 


37.  A  copy  of  these  rules  shall  be  kept  by  the  superin- 
tendent in  a  place  easily  accessible  to  all  employees,  and 
she  shall  direct  all  employees  to  read  and  observe  them. 

38.  Any  of  these  rules  may  at  any  time  be  amended, 
suspended  or  canceled  by  the  judge. 


289 


Appendix 

RULES   OF   COURT    FOR    THE   GOVERNMENT   AND   ADMINIS- 
TRATION   OF    THE    PROBATION    OFFICE 

I.  The  probation  office  shall  be  open  daily  from  8  :oo 
A.  M.  to  6  :oo  P.  M.,  except  on  Saturday,  when  it  shall 
close  at  i  :oo  P.  M.     It  shall  also  be  open  for  the  reports 
of  working  boys  at  least  two  evenings  a  week.     It  shall 
be  closed  only  on  public  holidays  on  which  the  public 
schools  also  close. 

II.  Each  probation  officer  shall  be  required  to  devote 
at  least  8  hours  a  day  to  the  work  of  the  court,  with  a 
half  day  on  Saturday.     Each  probation  officer,  after  6 
months'  service  in  the  office,  is  entitled  to  3  weeks'  vaca- 
tion annually. 

III.  The  chief  probation  officer  shall  make  the  regula- 
tions for  the  conduct  of  the  probation  office  and  the  spe- 
cialization of  work  of  the  various  officers.     In  his  absence 
from  the  city  at  any  time,  or  in  the  event  of  inability  to 
perform  his  duties,  he  may  appoint,  with  the  approval  of 
the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court,  an  acting  chief  proba- 
tion officer  from  among  his  associates. 

IV.  All   investigations    for  the  court   shall  be   made 
through  the  probation  office,  and  each  investigation  shall 
include  an  examination  of  the  child  and  his  or  her  en- 
vironment.    The  direct  examinations  of  girls  shall  be 
handled  only  by  women  officers.     Physical  examinations 
may  be  made  with  the  consent  of  parents  of  the  child, 
but   such  examinations   shall  be  made  only  by  a  duly 
authorized  physician,  acting  under  the  direction  of  the 
chief  probation  officer. 

V.  Probation  officers  may  file  petitions  in  cases  com- 

290 


Appendix 

plained  of  to  the  office,  and  in  which  the  officers  have 
sufficient  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  to  warrant  a 
petition.  All  such  petitions,  however,  shall  be  approved 
by  the  chief  probation  officer  before  going  to  the  clerk. 
Probation  officers  shall  be  present  in  Court  in  all  cases 
for  which  they  file  petitions. 

VI.  Probation  officers  may  carry  concealed  a  badge 
or  "  star  "  as  provided,  in  the  performance  of  their  duties. 

VII.  The  chief  probation  officer  shall  make  a  monthly 
report  to  the  Court  of  the  disposition  of  all  cases  before 
the  Court;  of  the  number  of  children  in  charge  of  the 
probation  officers,  and  of  the  number  of  the  Court's  wards 
in  institutions. 


291 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 

THE  literature  on  the  juvenile  court  is  to  be  found  in 
the  main  in  special  articles  on  special  phases  of  the  move- 
ment and  reports  of  Commissions  and  other  special 
bodies.  The  references  given  here  have  been  selected 
from  three  extensive  bibliographies  compiled  for  the 
authors  by  the  Library  of  Congress,  the  Louisville  Free 
Public  Library  and  the  St.  Louis  Public  Library: 

ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL  SCIENCE,  N.  Y.  Reform  of  the 
criminal  law  and  procedure.  N.  Y.  Columbia  Univ., 
191 1.  Treatment  of  juvenile  delinquency. 
A  DECADE  OF  THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  Bernard  Flexner. 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction  Pro- 
ceedings, 1911. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
American  Academy  of  Political  and   Social   Science, 
Philadelphia,  1910.     (Annals,  Vol.  36,  No.  i.) 
Juvenile  Courts  and  the  Treatment  of  Juvenile  Of- 
fenders.    The  juvenile  court  —  its  legal  aspect  — 
by  Bernard   Flexner;   Distinctive   features   of   the 
juvenile  court,  by  H.  H.  Hart;  Functions  of  the 
juvenile  court,  by  W.  H.  DeLacy;  The  responsibil- 
ity of  parenthood,  by  R.  J.  Wilkin;  Juvenile  courts 
and  probation  in  Philadelphia,  by  W.  H.  Staake; 
Causes  of  delinquency  among  girls,  by  Mrs.  Martha 
292 


Appendix 

P.  Falconer;  Private  hearings,  their  advantages  and 
disadvantages,  by  H.  H.  Baker. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  PROBATION.  New  York  State  Proba- 
tion Commission.  3d  rev.  ed.  Albany,  1911. 

ANNUAL  REPORTS.  New  York  State  Probation  Com- 
mission. Albany,  New  York. 

CHILDREN'S  COURTS  IN  CANADA.  Bernard  Flexner. 
Survey  No.  25. 

DELINQUENT  CHILD  AND  THE  HOME.  S.  P.  Breckin- 
ridge  and  Edith  Abbott.  A  study  of  juvenile  de- 
linquency in  Cook  Co.,  111.  New  York  Charities  Pub- 
lication Committee,  1912.  Appendices  by  Julian  W. 
Mack  and  W.  M.  Pinckney.  Synopsis  of  Juvenile 
Court  Laws  by  Grace  Abbott. 

DENVER  JUVENILE  COURT.     Ben  B.  Lindsey. 

DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  COURTS  AND  NON-SUPPORT  CASES. 
E.  J.  Cooley.  Proceedings  National  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction,  1912. 

FAMILY  DESERTION  AND  NON-SUPPORT  LAWS,  PRESENT 
STATUS  OF.  Wm.  H.  Baldwin.  Proceedings  of  the 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1911. 

How  TO  DEAL  WITH  THE  RECREANT  HUSBAND  AND 
FATHER.  Jos.  C.  Logan.  Proceedings  of  the  Na- 
tional Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1911. 

INTERNATIONAL  PRISON  COMMISSION.  Children's  courts 
in  the  United  States,  their  origin,  development  and  re- 
sults. Wash.,  Gov't  Pr.  Off.,  1904.  Contents:  In- 
troduction by  S.  J.  Barrows.  Illinois:  Children's 
Court  in  Chicago,  by  R.  S.  Tuthill;  Development  of 
the  Juvenile  Court  idea,  by  T.  D.  Hurley.  New  York : 
Juvenile  Court  of  Buffalo,  by  Thomas  Murphy;  The 

293 


Appendix 

child  of  the  large  city,  by  J.  M.  Mayer;  The  Children's 
Court  of  Brooklyn,  by  R.  J.  Wilkin.  Colorado :  The 
Juvenile  Court  of  Denver,  by  Ben  B.  Lindsey;  Addi- 
tional report  on  methods  and  results,  by  Ben  B.  Lind- 
sey. Pennsylvania :  A  campaign  for  childhood,  by  H. 
K.  Schoff.  Wisconsin:  Juvenile  Court  of  Milwaukee, 
by  Bert  Hall.  New  Jersey :  Children's  Court  in  New- 
ark, by  A.  F.  Skinner.  Indiana:  The  mission  of  the 
Juvenile  Court  of  Indianapolis,  by  G.  W.  Stubbs;  The 
probation  system  of  the  juvenile  court  of  Indianapolis, 
by  Mrs.  H.  W.  Rogers.  Missouri :  The  change 
wrought  by  the  juvenile  probation  system  in  St.  Louis, 
by  C.  C.  Eliot.  Appendix:  Juvenile  court  laws. 

JUVENILE  COURT:  THE  JUDGE  AND  THE  PROBATION 
OFFICER.  Julian  W.  Mack,  National  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction  Proceedings,  1906. 

JUVENILE  COURTS.  S.  K.  Hornbeck,  Madison,  Wis., 
Wisconsin  Library  Commission,  1908.  Comparative 
legislation  bulletin  No.  15. 

JUVENILE  COURTS  AS  PART  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  OF 
THE  COUNTRY.  National  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Correction  Proceedings,  1908. 

JUVENILE  PROBATION.  Homer  Folks.  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Correction  Proceedings,  1906. 

JUVENILE  COURT  NUMBER  OF  THE  Survey,  Feb.  5,  1910. 
Ten  Years  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  edited  by  Bernard 

Flexner. 
The  Juvenile  Court  as  a  Social  Institution,  Bernard 

Flexner. 

The  Community  and  the  Child,  Julian  W.  Mack. 

294 


Appendix 

Procedure   of    the   Boston   Juvenile    Court,    Harvey 

H.  Baker. 
My  Lesson  from  the  Juvenile  Court,  Ben  B.  Lind- 

sey. 
Ten  Years  of  the  Juvenile  Court  of  Chicago,  Henry 

W.  Thurston. 

Juvenile  Probation  in  New  York,  Homer  Folks. 
The  Juvenile  Court  Abroad,  Victor  Von  Borosini. 
Family    Desertion    and   Non-support,    Wm.  H.    De- 
Lacy. 

JUVENILE  COURTS  AS  PART  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  OF 
THE  COUNTRY.  Julian  W.  Mack.  Discussion  on 
Juvenile  Courts,  Proceedings  of  the  National  Confer- 
ence of  Charities  and  Correction,  1908. 

JUVENILE  COURT  OF  COOK  COUNTY,  ILL.  A  report  of  a 
special  committee  of  which  Professor  Willard  E. 
Hotchkiss  was  Chairman.  Chicago,  1912. 

JUVENILE  COURT  LAWS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  A  sum- 
mary by  states,  by  Thomas  J.  Homer;  A  Topical  Ab- 
stract, by  Grace  Abbott;  Edited  by  Hastings  H.  Hart. 
Russell  Sage  Foundation  Publication. 

JUDICIAL  AND  PROBATIONARY  TREATMENT  OF  CASES  OF 
NON-SUPPORT.  John  J.  Gascoyne.  Proceedings  Na- 
tional Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  Cleve- 
land, 1912. 

JUDICIAL  AND  PROBATIONARY  TREATMENT  OF  CASES  OF 
NON-SUPPORT.  Hon.  Howard  P.  Nash.  Proceedings 
of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tion, Cleveland,  1912. 

MEDICAL  DEFECTS   AND  DELINQUENCY.     Dr.   William 

295 


Appendix 

Healy.  Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction,  1911. 

PREVENTIVE  TREATMENT  OF  NEGLECTED  CHILDREN. 
Edited  by  Hastings  H.  Hart.  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion Publication. 

PROBLEM  OF  TRUANCY.  Mary  Boyle  O'Reilly.  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Correction,  1909. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE  CONFERENCE  ON 
DEPENDENT  CHILDREN.  Washington,  Gov't  Pr.  Office, 
1909. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  FIRST  CONFERENCE  OF  CITY  MAGIS- 
TRATES (OUTSIDE  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY)  HELD  AT  THE 
INVITATION  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  PROBATION 
COMMISSION  AT  ALBANY,  Dec.  10  and  n,  1909. 
Albany.  Printed  by  the  J.  B.  Lyon  Company, 
(1909). 

PUBLIC  PENSIONS  AND  WIDOWS.  S.  C.  Kingsley,  Mer- 
ritt  W.  Pinckney,  Frederic  Almy  and  others.  Pro- 
ceedings of  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rection, Cleveland,  1912. 

(See  also  various  other  articles  in  the  Survey,  1913,  by 
Dr.  E.  C.  Devine,  Mary  E.  Richmond,  and  C.  C.  Car- 
stens. ) 

REFORMATION  OF  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS  THROUGH 
THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Correction,  1903—1905. 

(Judge  Lindsey  has  written  extensively  on  the  Juvenile 
Court,  the  articles  being  scattered  throughout  the  above 
reports  and  the  magazines. ) 

SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ON  PROBATION  AND  JUVENILE 

296 


Appendix 

COURTS,  in  New  York  State  Probation  Commission's 
first  report,  Albany,  1908. 

SOCIAL  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  H.  W. 
Thurston,  School  Review,  Vol.  14. 

SPIRIT  OF  YOUTH  AND  THE  CITY  STREETS.  Jane 
Addams.  Macmillan,  N.  Y.,  1909. 

STATISTICS  RELATING  TO  JUVENILE  DELINQUENTS. 
Roger  N.  Baldwin.  National  Conference  of  Chari- 
ties and  Correction  Proceedings,  1910. 

THE  CARE  OF  DESTITUTE,  NEGLECTED  AND  DELINQUENT 
CHILDREN.  Homer  Folks.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  New 
York,  1902. 

THE  CHILD  IN  THE  CITY.  Proceedings  of  The  Chicago 
Child  Welfare  Exhibit.  Published  by  The  Depart- 
ment of  Social  Investigations,  Chicago  School  of  Civics 
and  Philanthropy,  1912.  Part  VI.  The  Law  and  the 
Child.  The  Juvenile  Court,  Merritt  W.  Pinckney. 
The  Municipal  Court  and  the  Child,  Harry  Olson. 
The  Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  Charles  N.  Good- 
now.  The  Presentation  of  the  Case,  Roger  N.  Bald- 
win. The  Delinquent  Girl  and  the  Juvenile  Court, 
Merritt  W.  Pinckney.  Probation  and  Institutional 
Care,  Mary  W.  Dewson. 

THE  DELINQUENT  CHILD  OF  IMMIGRANT  PARENTS. 
Mrs.  Jos.  T.  Bowen.  Proceedings  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1909. 

THE  JUVENILE  COURT  FROM  THE  POINT  OF  VIEW  OF  A 
LAWYER.  Bernard  Flexner.  Proceedings  of  the  Con- 
ference on  Truant,  Backward  and  Delinquent  Children, 
Buffalo,  1910. 

THE  JUVENILE  COURT  MOVEMENT  FROM  A  LAWYER'S 

297 


Appendix 

STANDPOINT.  Edward  Lindsey.  The  Annals  of  The 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science, 
March  1914. 

THE  JUVENILE  COURT  AS  IT  is  TO-DAY.  Prof.  Willard 
E.  Hotchkiss.  Proceedings  of  the  National  Confer- 
ence of  Charities  and  Correction,  Cleveland,  1912. 

THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  Julian  W.  Mack.  Proceedings 
of  the  American  Bar  Association,  1911. 

THE  PROSECUTION  OF  PARENTS  FOR  THE  DELINQUENCIES 
OF  THEIR  CHILDREN.  Frank  E.  Wade.  Proceedings 
of  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tion, 1909. 

THE  STATUS  OF  THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  Hon.  Harry  D. 
Jewell.  Proceedings  of  the  National  Conference  of 
Charities  and  Correction,  1910. 

THE  TREND  OF  THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  Thomas  D.  Eliot. 
The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science,  March  1914. 


THE   END 


298 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Miss  Grace,  on  causes  of 
delinquency  among  children 
of  foreign  born  parents,  146. 

Abbreviations  in  use  in  juvenile 
courts,  252. 

Adults  vs.  child  criminals,  9. 

Advantages  of  flat  filing  system, 
200. 

Advisory  Boards,  19. 

Aid  of  State  to  child,  12. 

Alphabetical  card  index  of  chil- 
dren on  probation,  201. 

Annual  Court  Reports,  175. 

Appointing  probation  officers,  87- 
89. 

Arrangement  and  appearance  of 
court  room,  53. 

Arrangement  of  probation  offices, 

57- 
Assignment  of  children  to  private 

societies,  124. 
Attendance    or    truant    officers, 

training  of,  123. 


Badges  for  probation  officers,  98. 
"  Big  Brothers,"  120. 
"  Big  Sisters,"  120. 
Boards,  Advisory,  19. 
Bond,  provision  for,  20. 
Boys,    whose    personal    conduct 
has  to  be  supervised,  135. 


Card  Index,  alphabetical,  of  all 

children  on  probation,  201. 
forms,  list  of,  237. 
Cases,  difference  in  treatment  of, 

76,  77- 

Cases  of  Adults,  61. 
Character  of  the  report,  128. 
Charges,    circumstances    of   the, 

3i. 

on  which  children  appear  be- 
fore the  court,  183. 
table  of,  grouped  according  to 

color,  179. 

Charities  registration  bureau,  33. 
Chicago  Juvenile   Court   option, 

16. 
Chief  probation  officer,  work  of, 

160,  161,  162. 

Child,  aid  of  State  to,  12. 
Child  and  adult  criminal,  distinc- 
tion between,  8,  9. 
custody  of,  9,  23. 
form  of  card  given  on  being 
paroled  from  an  institution, 
221. 

forms  of  orders  making  him 
or  her  a  ward  of  the  court, 
250. 
form  of  record  card  kept  by 

detention  house,  239. 
influence  brought  to   bear  by 
probation  officer,  134. 


299 


Index 


Child. — Continued. 

neglected,  form  of  card  given 
when  placed  under  supervi- 
sion, 222. 

proper  method  of  questioning 
by  investigators,  34. 

record  of  the,  36. 

sources  of  information  about, 
37- 

welfare  of  the,  31. 
Children,  as  proper  subjects  for 
institutional  training,  73. 

assignment  for  probation  and 
supervision,  109. 

assignments  to  private  soci- 
eties, 124. 

changes  of  custody  of,  76. 

collective  reporting  by,  125. 

colored,  147. 

colored,  officers  for,  113. 

delinquent,  assignment  of,  no. 

exposure  to  immorality,  20. 

form  of  instructions  given  by 
the  court,  220. 

forms  used  by  probation  offi- 
cer in  the  supervision  of, 
223,  224,  225. 

grouping  of,  180. 

home  surroundings  of,  32. 

isolation  of,  26. 

laws  affecting,  10. 

mentally  or  morally  defective, 
67. 

names  recorded  on  card  index, 

199- 

neglected,  20. 

neglected,  assignment  of,  113. 
number  on  probation  to  each 

officer,  116. 


removal     of     articles     which 

might  do  damage,  26. 
selecting  the  cases  to  be  shown 

on  maps,  187. 
social  influence  of,  67. 
system    of    individual    assign- 
ment, no. 

temporary  detention  as  means 
of  reforming  shiftless  par- 
ents, 73. 

Churches,  cooperation  with,  168. 
Classification  of  Investigation,  29. 
Cleveland   House   of   Detention, 

25- 
Collective  reporting  by  Children, 

125. 
Colorado  law  for  appointment  of 

masters  of  discipline,  17. 
Colored  children,  147. 
Colored    probation    officer,    113, 

147. 
Commitment,  forms  of,  248. 

periods  of,  74. 
Court,  organization  of,  15. 
presentation    of    investigations 

in,  48. 

the  investigator  in,  52. 
Court  fines,  educational  value  of, 

7i. 

Court    investigation,    uniformity 
in,  42. 

Court  officers  as  probation  offi- 
cers, 123. 
complaints  made  to,  30. 

Court  records,  systematizing,  194. 

Court  Reports,  annual,  175. 
general  monthly,  174. 

Court    Room    and    Court    Pro- 
cedures, 53. 


300 


Index 


Court  Room. — Continued. 
arrangement    and    appearance 

of,  S3- 

Court-rooms,  types  of,  54. 
Court  stenographer,  52. 
Criminal   and   civil   proceedings, 

distinction  between,  5,  6. 
Criminal  law,  trials  under,  6. 
"  Cruelty  Society,"  25. 
Custody  of  Child,  9,  23. 
Commitments,  delays  in,  73,  74. 

looked  upon  as  punishment,  73. 
Comparison,  tables  of,  182. 

with  old  and  new  cases,  179. 
Complaint,     form     of     blanket 

order  relating  to,  251. 
what  it  should  comprise,  202. 
Complaints,  filing  of,  32. 
made  to  court  officers,  30. 
printed  forms  for,  32. 
Consistent  system,  need  of  a,  12. 
Cooperation  between  home  and 

school,  166. 

of  the  judge  in  cases,  15. 
the  larger  system  of,  165. 
with  churches,  168. 
with  private  agencies,  169. 
with  the  police,  167. 
Cooperative  treatment  of  truants, 

166. 

Counting,  principles  of,  176. 
Court,  charges  on  which  children 

appear  before  the,  183. 
form  of  alphabetical  index  of 

all  children  before  the,  237. 
form  of  instructions  given  to 

children,  220. 

form  of  order  changing  cus- 
tody of  award  of  the,  251. 


form  of  order  making  a  child  a 

ward  of,  250. 
jurisdiction  of,  10. 
keeping  minor  cases  out  of,  59. 
method    of    bringing    children 

before  the,  19. 

Dealing  with  minor  delinquen- 
cies, 60. 

Decisions  made  of  cases,  69. 
Definitions  of  terms,  191. 
Delinquency,  maps  for  the  study 

of  sources  of,  186. 
Delinquent  child,  information  to 

be  secured  about  any,  35. 
children,  transportation  of,  19. 
girls,  supervision  of  by  men, 

114. 

Denver  Juvenile  Court,  4. 
Detention,  methods  of,  23. 
proper  places  of,  23,  24. 
Detention  home,  form  of  consent 
of  parent  for  local  examina- 
tion of  a  girl,  239. 
Detention    home,    form    of    the 

written  promise,  238. 
officers  of,  29. 

Detention  homes  in  rural  com- 
munities, 26. 

Detention  house,  form  of 
monthly  report  on  number  of 
children  in  detention  each 
day,  240,  241. 

form    of    monthly    report    on 
number  of  children  received 
and  released,  242. 
form  of  record  card  for  each 

child  brought  to  the,  239. 
list  of  forms  recommended  for 
use  at,  238. 


301 


Index 


Denison,  Miss  Mary,  on  proba- 
tion of  girls,  150. 
Difference  in  the  hearing  from 

the  trial  of  a  criminal  case, 

64. 
Difference    of    opinion    between 

family  and  officer,  103. 
Discharges,   from  probation,  69, 

158,  159- 
Diseases  in  children,  detection  of 

by  probation  officer,  41. 
Disposition  of  cases,  explanation 

to  parents,  69. 
Distinction    between    child    and 

adult  criminal,  8. 
Distinguishing  between  offenses, 

183. 
District   system   of    assignment, 

disadvantages  of,  115. 
for  probation  and  supervision, 

"5. 

Docket,  form  of  for  use  of  chief 
probation  officer,  218. 


Employer's  Reports,  130. 
Essentials  of  good  investigation, 

33; 

Examination,  plans  for  medical, 
40. 

Examination  by  physician  or  spe- 
cialist, need  of,  40. 

Examinations,  medical  and  phys- 
ical, 39. 
written,  for  probation  officers, 

90,93- 
Expenses   of   probation   officers, 

97- 

Exposure  of  children  to  immor- 
ality, 20. 


Falconer,    Mrs.    Martha    P.,    on 
probation  of  girls,  148. 

Fathers,  making  acquaintance  of, 
by  probation  officer,  136. 

Fee  system,  31. 

Filing,  system  in,  195. 

Filing  of  complaints,  32. 

Fines,     illegal     under     modem 

juvenile  laws,  69. 
on  instalments,  71. 
those  who  favor,  71. 

Flat  filing  system,  advantages  of, 
200. 

Foreign-speaking  peoples,  proba- 
tion among,  143. 

Forms,  Alphabetical  index  of  all 
children    before    the    court, 

237- 
blanket    order    relating    to    a 

complaint,  251. 
card  given  to  a  child  paroled 

from  an  institution,  221. 
card  given  to  a  neglected  child 

placed     under     supervision, 

222. 

card  index,  list  of,  237. 

card  used  for  securing  the 
school  record,  210. 

chapter  on,  194. 

commitment  delivered  to  the 
Supt.  of  the  institution,  248. 

consent  of  parent  for  local  ex- 
amination of  a  girl,  239. 

docket  for  chief  probation  offi- 
cer, 218. 

for  use  in  preparing  and  re- 
cording cases,  202. 

index  of  wards  of  the  court, 
237- 


302 


Index 


Forms. — Continued. 

instructions  given  children  by 
the  court,  220. 

list  of  orders  of  court  entered 
on  clerk's  docket  book, 
249. 

list  of,  recommended  for  use 
at  the  detention  house,  238. 

legal,  list  of,  used  by  court 
clerk,  243. 

list  of  reports  of  probation  offi- 
cers, 228. 

monthly  report  of  chief  proba- 
tion officer,  231-234. 

monthly  report  on  number  of 
children  in  detention  each 
day,  240,  241. 

monthly  report  on  number  of 
children  received  and  re- 
leased, 242. 

non-legal,  necessity  of,  202. 

notice  mailed  to  the  parent  to 
appear,  207. 

notices  to  report  at  probation 
office,  227. 

order  changing  custody  of  a 
ward  of  the  court,  251. 

orders  making  a  child  a  ward 
of  the  court,  250. 

petition  to  bring  the  child  be- 
fore the  court,  244. 

probation  office,  condition  of, 
198. 

probation  officer's  investigation 
on  an  application  for  release, 
219. 

probation  officer's  monthly  re- 
port, 229,  230. 

record  blank  for  the  social  in- 
vestigation, 211-215. 

303 


record  card  for  each  child 
brought  to  the  detention 
house,  239. 

release  to  superintendent  hav- 
ing custody  of  children 
wanted  in  court,  248. 

special,  in  use  in  probation  of- 
fice, 204. 

subpoena,  to  secure  attendance 
of  witnesses,  245. 

summons,  to  secure  attendance 
of  parent  and  child,  245. 

the  direct  complaint  to  the  pro- 
bation officer,  205. 

the  medical  examination,  216, 
217. 

the  parents'  report,  226. 

the  police  complaint,  208. 

the  school  report,  226. 

the  truant  officer's  statement, 
209. 

the  unofficial  complaint  to  the 
probation  officer,  206. 

the  written  promise,  238. 

used  by  probation  officers  in 
the  supervision  of  children, 
223-225. 

used  by  probation  officers,  list 
of,  204. 

used  in  supervision,  203. 

volunteer  officer's  report  post- 
card, 236. 

warrant,  to  secure  the  attend- 
ance of  child  after  failure  of 
summons,  246. 

weekly  report  of  probation  offi- 
cer, 235. 

writ  of  attachment,  to  secure 
the  attendance  of  witnesses 


Index 


Forms. — Continued. 

after    failure    of    subpoena, 
247. 

Frequency  of  hearings,  58. 
of  reports,  133. 

of  visits  by  probation  officer, 
135- 

General    monthly    court    report, 

174. 

principles  of  tabulation,  181. 
principles  involved,  9. 
Geographical  jurisdiction,  17. 
Girls,    placing    in    homes    other 

than  their  own,  154. 
immoral,    methods    of    dealing 

with,  154. 

question  of  morality  in,  40. 
special  work  in  the  probation 

of,  148. 
Girls'  cases,  women  assistants  to 

hear,  15. 
Girls  report  to  probation  officers, 

desirability  of  having,  153. 
Grasse,  Miss  Gertrude,  on  proba- 
tion of  girls,  151. 
Grouping  of  children,  180. 

by  sex  and  color,  178. 
Groups  of  children,  67. 
subdivision  of,  178. 

Hearings,  frequency  of,  58. 
length  of,  58. 
regulation  of,  58. 
History  of  juvenile  probation,  4. 
Home  surroundings  of  children, 

32. 

visit  by  probation  officer,  rea- 
son for,  136,  137. 


House    of   detention,    Cleveland, 

25- 

proper  construction  of,  29. 
St.  Louis,  25. 

Illinois,  juvenile  court  law,  120. 
juvenile  court  created  in,  3. 
Immigrants,  treatment  of  by  pro- 
bation officer,  145. 
Immoral  girls,  methods  of  deal- 
ing with,  154. 
Indexes,  special,  200. 
Individual     assignment    on    the 

basis  of  personality,  114. 
report,  the,  126. 
Information,  schedule  of,  35. 
secured  through  neighborhood 

investigations,  138. 
through  a  visit  to  the  school, 

138. 

to  be  secured  about  any  delin- 
quent child,  35. 
utilized    by   probation   officers, 

139- 
Interpreters,     where     necessary, 

144- 

Investigating  officer,  46,  47. 
Investigation,  essentials  of  good, 

33- 
blank,  what  it  should  contain, 

202. 
Investigations,  among  neighbors, 

37- 

classification  of,  29. 
objections  to  presenting  orally, 

48.  _ 

organizing  the  work  of,  30. 
supplementary,  30. 
typewritten  statements  of,  48. 
use  of  detention  in,  39. 


304 


Inde 


x 


Irregularities  in  reports,  133. 
Isolation  of  children,  26. 


Juvenile    Protective   Assn.,    121, 
122. 


Judge,  cooperation  of,  in  cases,      Keeping    minor     cases     out    of 


15. 

qualification  of  the,  17. 
Judges,  rotation  of,  12. 

special  vs.  part  time,  18. 
Judicial  dispositions,  68. 
Jurisdiction  of  the  court,  10. 
Jury,   impossibility  of   use   at  a 

hearing,  64. 

Juvenile   court,   abbreviations   in 
use  in,  252. 

Committee  of  Chicago,  121. 

form  of  card  given  to  a  neg- 
lected child  placed  under 
supervision,  222. 

form  of  card  used  for  secur- 
ing school  record,  210. 

form  of  commitment,  248. 

form  of  notice  mailed  to  the 
parent  to  appear,  207. 

form  of  petition  to  bring  the 
child  before  the,  244. 

form  of  subpoena,  245. 

form  of  summons,  245. 

form  of  warrant,  246. 

form  of  writ  of  attachment, 
247. 

list  of  legal  forms  used  by 
clerk,  243. 

list  of  court  orders  of,  249. 

origin  of,  3. 

of  Denver,  4. 

of  South  Australia,  4. 

procedure,  criminal  vs.  civil  in- 
terpretation of,  5. 

procedure,  purpose  of,  5. 
Juvenile  probation,  history  of,  4. 


court,  59. 

Kelso,  J.  J.,  efforts  of,  to  estab- 
lish juvenile  courts,  3. 

Laws,  suggested,  u. 
Laws  affecting  children,  10. 

involved  in  juvenile  courts,  7-9. 
Legal    forms,    list    of,    used    by 

court  clerk,  243. 
records   kept   by   court   clerk, 

196-197. 
Length  of  hearings,  58. 

Maps,  method  of  making,  188. 
Maps,  selecting  the  cases  of  chil- 
dren to  be  shown  on,  187. 
Maps  for  study  of  sources  of  de- 
linquency, 186. 
Massachusetts    State    Probation 

Commission,  189. 
Medical   and   physical   examina- 
tions, 39. 
examination,     form    for,    216, 

217. 

examination  in  schools,  40. 
Methods     followed     in    hearing 

cases,  62. 
of  bringing  children  before  the 

court,  19. 
of  detention,  23. 
of  questioning  children  by  in- 
vestigators, 34. 

Miner,  Miss  Maude  E.,  on  proba- 
tion of  girls,  153. 
Money  penalties,  70. 
difference  in  opinion  of,  70. 


305 


Index 


Money  penalties. — Continued. 

in  the  form  of  costs,  70. 
Monthly  court  report,  definition 

of,  174. 
Moving  to  a  neighborhood  better 

adapted  to  the  need  of  the 

child,  103. 

Neglected  children,  20. 

New  idea  in  the  law,  7. 

Newspaper  reporting  of  cases 
done  away  with,  53. 

New  York  Public  Education 
Assn.,  167. 

New  York  State  Probation  Com- 
mission, 189. 

New  York  State  Probation  Com- 
mission oral  examination,  94. 

New  York  State  Probation  Com- 
mission written  examination, 

93- 
Non-legal    forms,    necessity    of, 

202. 
Notices   to   report   to   probation 

office,  forms  of,  227. 

Objections  to  presenting  investi- 
gations orally,  48. 

Offenses,  distinguishing  between, 
183. 

Officers  of  the  detention  home, 
29. 

Old  and  new  cases,  comparison 
with,  179. 

Organization  and  procedure,  12. 

Organization  of  the  court,  15. 

Organizing  the  work  of  investi- 
gations, 30. 

Other  dispositions,  75. 


Parents    present    during    child's 

hearing,  57. 
Parents'  reports,  129. 

used  by  probation  officers,  226. 
Pensions  to  widows,  169. 
Physical    defects,    correction    in, 

39- 

Places  of  detention,  23. 
Placing  girls  in  homes  other  than 

their  own,  154. 
Police,  cooperation  with,  167. 
Police  complaint,  form  used,  208. 
Policemen  as  probation  officers, 

122. 

Power  and   duties  of  probation 

officers,  98. 
Presentation  of  investigations  in 

court,  48. 
Principal  causes  of  delinquency, 

by  Miss  Grace  Abbott,  146. 
Principles  of  counting,  176. 
Printed  forms  for  complaints,  32. 
Private  associations,  value  of,  in 

assisting  the  court,  120. 
Private  societies,  assignment  of 

children  to,  124. 
Probation,  74. 

as  a  general  proposition,  86. 
as  a  reconstructive  force,  81. 
as  a  vital  active  force,  82. 
by   trained   probation    officers, 

&|. 

classification  of  officers,  85. 
conditions  of,  102. 
definition  of,  74. 
discharge  from,  76. 
discharges  from,  158,  159. 
employers'  reports,   130. 
frequency  of  reports,  133. 
from  a  social  point  of  view,  80. 


306 


Index 


Probation. — Continued. 
history  and  definition,  79. 
in  relation  to  "parole,"  81. 
irregularities  in  reports,  133. 
judges,  relation  to,  82,  83. 
modified  district  plan,  115. 
number  of  children  to  each  of- 
ficer, 117. 
period  of,  82. 
personality  in,  86. 
reports    from    Sunday    School 

teachers,  130. 

right  of  the  courts  of  postpon- 
ing it  and  releasing  defend- 
ants, 79. 

special  problems  in,  143. 
use  of  in  juvenile  courts,  75. 
use  of  visits  in,  134. 
violation  of,  102. 
violations  of,  155. 
volunteer  officer,  85. 
when  to  use,  75. 
Probation  among  foreign-speak- 
ing peoples,  143. 
Commission,  examples  of  writ- 
ten examinations,  93. 
Court,  as  a  boys'  club,  126. 
Probation  methods,  124. 
methods  in  rural  districts,  171. 
of  Girls,  by  Miss  Mary  Dew- 
son,  150. 

by  Miss  Gertrude  Grasse,  151. 
by  Miss  Maude  E.  Miner,  153. 
special  work  in  the,  148. 
Probation  on  a  basis  of  religious 

belief,  87. 
Probation  office,  as  it  should  be 

run,  108. 

attention  and  courtesy  in,  108. 
forms  of  notices  to  report,  227. 

307 


names  of  children  recorded  on 

card  index,  199. 
special  forms  in  use  in,  204. 
and  the  public,  107. 
forms,  condition  of,  198. 
works,  essentials  of,  162. 
Probation  officers,  advice  from, 

103. 

appointment  of,  80. 
appointment  on  merit  basis,  90. 
as  court  officers,  123. 
as  representatives  of  the  court, 

102. 

assignment  to  volunteer,  117. 
as  truant  officers,  99. 
authority    over    children    not 

wards  of  the  court,  100. 
badge  of  authority,  98. 
colored,   for  colored  children, 

H3,  147- 

desirability  of  having  girls  re- 
port to,  153. 

detection  of  diseases  in  chil- 
dren by,  41. 

determining  violation  of  proba- 
tion or  parole,  101. 

difference  between  volunteer 
and  paid,  117. 

divided  into  groups,  193. 

duty  to  get  into  intimate  con- 
tact with  the  child,  103. 

educational  qualifications,  92. 

esprit  de  corps,  109. 

expenses  of,  97. 

familiarity  with  cases,  48. 

form  for  the  direct  complaint 
to,  205. 

form  of  card  given  to  a  child 
paroled  from  an  institution, 

221. 


Index 


Probation  officers. — Continued. 

form  of  docket  for  use  of,  218. 

form  of  examinations  for  ap- 
pointment, 90. 

form  of  investigation  on  an  ap- 
pointment for  release,  219. 

form  of  monthly  report  of,  231, 
232,  233,  234. 

form  of  monthly  report,  229, 
230. 

form  of  parents'  report,  226. 

form  of  record  blank  for  the 
social  investigation,  211-215. 

form  of  school  report,  226. 

form  of  truant  officer's  report 
to,  209. 

form  for  the  unofficial  com- 
plaint to,  206. 

form  of  weekly  report  of,  235. 

form  used  in  the  supervision  of 
children,  223-225. 

frequency  of  visits  by,  135. 

hours  of  work,  108. 

influences  brought  to  bear  on  a 
child,  134. 

information  through  neighbor- 
hood investigation,  138. 

information  through  visit  to 
school,  138. 

in  relation  to  wards  of  the 
court,  101. 

list  of  forms  used  by,  204. 

list  of  report  forms  of,  228. 

methods  of  dealing  with  im- 
moral girls,  154. 

methods  of  selection,  87-89. 

oral  examination,  94. 

overburdened  with  excessive 
number  of  cases,  116. 


part    played    in   neighborhood 

quarrels,  99-100. 
personality  of,  91. 
policemen  as,  122. 
power  and  duties  of,  98. 
power  to  make  full  preliminary 

inquiry,  98. 
problems  of,  155-157. 
reason  for  the  home  visit,  136, 

137- 

record  aijd  filing  system,  198. 

record  of  children  under  their 
supervision,  203. 

relations  with  other  agencies, 
140-142. 

reports  of,  174. 

salaries  of,  96. 

securing    desirable    applicants, 
95- 

securing  information  by  visit- 
ing, 137. 

selection  of,  96. 

supervision   through   visits   to 
the  home,   135. 

time  given  by  and  payment  of, 
84. 

treatment  of  immigrants,  145. 

truant  officers  as,  122. 

utilizing  information,   139. 

volunteers   selected  by   reason 
of  their  good  intentions,  118. 

volunteers  from  an  administra- 
tive standpoint,  118. 

who  should  be  seen  by,  136. 

work  of  the  chief,  160-162. 
Probation     offices,     arrangement 

of,  57- 

as  conducted,  199. 

run  in  an  unbusinesslike  man- 
ner, 1 08. 


308 


Index 


Probation  power,  the  exercise  of, 
82. 

system,  views  on,  80. 

two  methods  of  conducting,  104. 

work,  organization  of,  104. 
Problems    of    probation    officers, 

I5S-IS7. 
in    probation    work    for   girls, 

153- 

Procedure  in  court  hearings,  62. 
Proper  places   of   detention,   23, 

24. 
Proportion  of  arrests  of  children 

which  go  to  juvenile  court, 

60. 

Psychopathic  Clinic,  41. 
Public  Education  Association  of 

New  York,  167. 
Publicity,  53. 

Qualifications  of  the  judge,  17. 
Question  of  morality  in  girls,  40. 

Reason  for  holding  a  child  for 
court,  60. 

Record  and  filing  system  kept  by 
probation  officer,  198. 

Record    of    the    child,   36. 

Record  of  children  kept  by  pro- 
bation officer,  203. 

Recording  cases,  forms  for  use  in 
preparing  and,  202. 

Recording  verbal  testimony,  51. 

Records,    legal,    kept    by    court 
clerk,  196,  197. 

Regulation   of   hearings,   58. 

Relation    to    children    not    legal 

wards,  98. 
to  legal  wards,  101. 

Relations,  visits  by,  26. 


Religious  influence  in  the  assign- 
ment of  children,  124. 
Report,  the  character  of,  128. 
Report,  the   individual,   126. 
Report,  the  interview  at  the  time 

of,  131. 

Reporting  system,  chief  justifica- 
tion for,  127. 
Reports,  employers',   130. 
frequency  of,   133. 
from     Sunday     school    teach- 
ers, 130. 
grouping  and  tabulating  cases, 

184. 

irregularities  in,  133. 
of  probation  officers,  174, 
parents,  129. 

privacy  and  informality  at  time 
of,  131. 
school,  129. 
terminology  in,  190. 
Restitution  and  reparation,  72. 
definition  of,  72. 
in  its  educational  discipline  of 

the  child,  72. 

Restriction  of  curious  spectators, 
S3- 

+s*J 

Rhode  Island,  early  laws  con- 
cerning juvenile  courts,  4. 

Rotation  of  judges,  12. 

Rural  districts,  probation  meth- 
ods in,  171. 

Saint  Louis  House  of  Detention, 

25. 

Salaries  of  probation  officers,  96. 
Schedule  of  information,  35. 
School  investigation,  38. 
School    record,    form    and    card 

used  for  securing,  210. 


309 


Index 


School  record. — Continued. 

criticism  of,  129-130. 

form  of,  used  by  probation  of- 
ficer, 226. 

reports,  129. 
Schools,  cooperation  with,  166. 

medical   examination  in,  40. 
Securing  information  by  visiting, 

137- 

Segregation  of  cases,  61. 
Settlement  of  trivial  cases,  59. 
Sex  and  color,  grouping  by,  178. 
Sexual  wrong-doing,  77. 
Social     investigation,     form     of 

record   blank   for   the,   211- 

215. 
Solution  of  problem  of  handling 

the  girl  in  court,  16. 
Sources    of    information    about 

the  child,  37. 
South  Australia,  juvenile  court, 

t 

Special  cases,  76. 

forms  in  use  in  probation  office, 

204. 

indexes,  200. 

problems  in  probation,  143. 
vs.  part-time  judges,  18. 
work  in  the  probation  of  girls, 

148. 
Spectators,  restriction  of  curious, 

53- 

Standardizing  investigations,  42. 
Statistics,  the  main  principles  of, 

185,  186. 

uniformity  for  States,  188. 
use  of,  188. 

Subdivision  of  groups,  178. 
Subpoena,  form  of,  245. 
Suggested  laws,  n. 


Summary   of   investigation,   38. 
Summons,  when  to  use,  20. 

form  of,  245; 
Sunday  school  teachers'  reports, 

130. 
Supervision,  forms  used  in,  203. 

through  visits  to  the  home,  135. 
Supplementary  investigations,  30. 
System  in  filing  records,  195. 
Systematizing  court  records,  194. 

Table   of   charges   according   to 
color,  179. 

Tables  of  comparison,  182. 

Tabulation,  general  principles  of, 
181. 

Terminology,  in  reports,  190. 

Terms,  definition  of,  191. 

Trials  under  criminal  law,  6. 

Transportation      of      delinquent 
children,  19. 

Truant  officers,  form  of  report  to 

probation  officers,  209. 
training  of,   123. 
as  probation  officers,  122. 

Truants,    cooperative    treatment 
of,  166. 

Types  of  court  rooms,  54. 

Typewritten  statements  of  inves- 
tigations, 48. 

Uniformed      officers      dispensed 

with,  54. 

Uniformity    in    court    investiga- 
tion, 42. 

in  juvenile  court  laws,  n. 
Unnecessary  publicity,  54. 
Use   of    detention   in   investiga- 
tions, 39. 
of  statistics,  188. 


3IO 


Index 


Utilizing  information  by  proba- 
tion officers,  139. 

Value  of  private  associations  as- 
sisting the  court,  120. 
Violations  of  probation,  155. 
Visits,   frequency  of,  by  proba- 
tion officer,  135. 
the  use  of,  in  probation,  134. 
by  relations,  26. 

Volunteer   officer,    forms  of   re- 
port post-card,  236. 
Volunteer  probation  officers,  118, 

119. 

from  an  administrative  stand- 
point, 118. 


Waif-Saving  Congress,  3. 

Wards  of  the  court,  form  of  in- 
dex of,  237. 

Warrants,  form  of,  246. 

Welfare  of  the  child,  31. 

Who  should  be  seen  by  proba- 
tion officer,  136. 

Widows'  pensions,  62,  169. 

Women  assistants  to  hear  girls' 
cases,  15. 

Work  of  the  chief  probation  of- 
ficer, 160-162. 

Writ  of  attachment,  form  of, 
247. 


UHRARV 

Angeles 


i  the  last  date  stamped  below 

— j 

1  6  1972 


Form  L9-Series  4939 


LAW  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


